Awareness and use of emergency contraception by students of Federal University of Technology, Owerri

Abstract

Questionnaires were distributed to 335 randomly selected female students of Federal University of Technology Owerri in order to determine the awareness, knowledge and sources of information on emergency contraception. It was found that 29.5% of the respondents had had an induced abortion while 74.6% had used family planning .The percentage that correctly identified postinor, oral contraceptive and intra uterine contraceptive as methods of emergency contraception was 9;15.7; and 4.3 % respectively. Only 16.5% knew the correct timing of emergency contraception and the main sources of information were doctors (19%) and pharmacists (15.8%) The potential benefits of emergency contraception remain largely untapped .It is suggested that all fresh students should be given talks on family planning as part of their orientation .