Emergency contraceptive utilization and associated factors among college students in Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Emergency contraception is a contraceptive method that can be used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse. Higher education students fall under the sexually active age group and form a high-risk group for unintended pregnancy, because of limited utilization of emergency contraception. The aim of this study was to assess emergency contraceptive utilization and associated factors among college students in Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia. METHODS An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted in May 2019. A total of 286 students using simple random sampling technique were included in the study. Data were collected by using self-administered questionnaires and entered into EpiData (Classic) Entry version 3.1 and analysed using SPSS version 24.0. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis were done to determine the association between the outcome and predictor variables. RESULTS A total of 286 female students participated in the study giving a response rate of 100%. Eighty-six (86) participants had a history of sexual practice, and 60 (69.7%) had ever used emergency contraceptive. Having knowledge about emergency contraceptive (AOR=3.24; 95% CI: 1.32-7.98), age at first sexual intercourse ≥20 years (AOR=4.04; 95% CI: 1.72-9.52), history of previous pregnancy (AOR=3.12; 95% CI: 1.34-7.24) and previous use of regular contraceptives (AOR=5.01; 95% CI: 2.23-11.27) were found to be significant predictors of emergency contraceptive utilization. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that emergency contraceptive utilization among female college students having unprotected sexual intercourse is still low. Level of knowledge, age at first sexual intercourse, previous use of regular contraceptives and history of pregnancy were major predictors of emergency contraceptive utilization. Therefore, focus on awareness creation activity and delaying sexual activity is recommended.

Nursing Students’ Knowledge, Awareness, and Experiences of Emergency Contraception Pills’ Use

“…The questionnaire administered online was created ad hoc based on the existing literature [8,[19][20][21][22][23] by the first two authors and agreed by the four authors. Socio-demographic variables of sex, age, and sexual orientation were included.…”

Creencias, actitudes y conocimientos sobre la anticoncepción de emergencia en estudiantes universitarios de medicina

“…Una reciente investigación, realizada con mujeres adolescentes de un colegio de Etiopía, reveló que 69,7 % de los participantes habían iniciado relaciones sexuales y utilizaban la anticoncepción de emergencia después de haber tenido relaciones sexuales sin protección (28). Asimismo, 26,7 % de mujeres de 20 años o menos de edad del mismo país, pero ubicadas en otra región, manifestaron haber iniciado relaciones sexuales (29).…”

Effect of Educational Instructional Module on Childbearing Women's Awareness Regarding Emergency Contraception.

“…The major factor limiting the use of EC may be inadequate information about their effectiveness and availability or unfavorable opinions and attitudes about their safety due to misinformation. Despite the fact that different modern contraceptives exist in Egypt, the problem of unintended pregnancy still present which could be due to gap in childbearing women's awareness regarding emergency contraception (28,29) .…”