Emergency contraception: Knowledge and perception of female undergraduates in the Niger Delta of Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of, and perception of female undergraduates in the Niger Delta of Nigeria towards Emergency Contraception. Methods: Anonymous self administered questionnaires were applied to randomly selected non-medical female undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt in May 2005. Results: Six hundred questionnaires were retrieved out of 610 distributed. The respondents were between 17-30 years. Those reported to have ever had sex were 85.3%; most of whom (98.4%) have previously used some forms of contraception. About 50.7% of 600 respondents were aware of emergency contraception; amongst which reports of friends/peers as the source of knowledge ranked highest (33.55%). About 88.2% of those that are aware of Emergency Contraception knew the correct timing. More than half (57.9%) did not know correct dosage of the available post-coital pill. While half (50.7%) of those having knowledge of postcoital pills agree to the efficacy; only a third (35.53%) agreed to have actually used it. Conclusion:The awareness and use of Emergency Contraception amongst female undergraduates in Niger Delta region of Nigeria is low. Prompt education of this group of students in Emergency Contraception should be encouraged with emphasis on available methods and correct timing of use.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Emergency Contraceptive Use among Female Students in Harar Preparatory Schools, Harari Regional State, Eastern Ethiopia

“…However, their actual level of knowledge of EC is generally low (21.9%): Though the level of knowledge is comparable to a study conducted in Jimma University (22.8%), it is lower than those conducted in Bahir Dar University (34.8%) and Addis Ababa university (43.5%) [16,19]. It is even much lower compared to the studies conducted among universities in other African countries such as Jamaica (84%), Nigeria (58%), and Cameroon (63%), all documented a rate greater than 50% [20][21][22].…”

Emergency contraception: knowledge, attitude and practices among recently married females in a rural area of North India

“…9,12,13 In contrast, Akani CI et al reported main source of information to be friends/peers among the respondents in their study. 14 In the current study, 91% of the respondents knew about oral pills being used on EC and 81% were aware of it being used with 72 hours of unprotected sex. Another 90% rated EC as safe and 95% knew that EC could be procured without prescription.…”

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Utilization of Emergency Contraception among Unmarried Women of Reproductive Age in Adama, Ethiopia

“…The underutilization of EC among unmarried women implies limited awareness about availability of method and unfavorable or negative perception towards EC. Different institutional based studies, however, have shown that the knowledge and practice in relation to emergency contraception are limited among women [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36].…”