Use of emergency contraceptive pill by 15‐year‐old girls: results from the international Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children (HBSC) study

Abstract

Objective To describe emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) use and variation across countries/regions; and to explore personal and contextual factors associated with ECP use and differences across countries/regions.Design Data were obtained from 11 countries/regions in the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children cross-sectional study.Setting Data were collected by self-report questionnaire in school classrooms.Population The analysis is based on 2118 sexually active 15-yearold girls.Methods Contraceptive behaviours were compared across countries/regions by chi-square tests. Individual factors related to ECP use were investigated with separate logistic regression models. Multilevel random-intercept models allowed the investigation of individual and contextual effects, by partitioning the variance into student, school and country/region levels. Conclusions These data document the large heterogeneity in rates of ECP use between countries/regions. These differences could not be explained by individual or contextual factors, and raise further questions in relation to ECP access for adolescents and their education in its appropriate use.

Does the knowledge of emergency contraception affect its use among high school adolescents?

“…While it reveals a positive aspect of contraception behavior, since it appears the adolescents could access EC whenever they faced an unprotected sexual intercourse, it can also be seen as a marker of many failures and discontinuities in the use of regular contraceptive methods. A higher use of EC has no negative effects on regular contraception use 30 , therefore we assume that EC use is more related to discontinuities than to the non-use itself, as described elsewhere 13,31 . Table 2 Factor analysis of knowledge of emergency contraception.…”

Prevalence of emergency contraceptive pill use among Spanish adolescent girls and their family and psychological profiles

“…One study, which analyzed data on ECP use at last sexual intercourse from eleven countries of the 2006 edition of the HBSC study (Flemish Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Sweden, Ukraine, Wales), found that France had the highest percentage of ECP use, probably due to easier access to ECPs. However, this finding did not entail that girls did not use other methods to protect themselves against pregnancy given that the percentages of condom use and/or contraceptive pill use were also high [ 7 ]. In short, it seems that adolescents with better access to EC use it when they need it, but they do not modify their usual method of contraception and/or they do not increase their sexual risk behavior [ 8 ].…”

Effect of Solanum surattense seed on the oxidative potential of cauda epididymal spermatozoa

“…Many plants extracts have been used as antifertility agents in folklore and traditional medicines without producing apparent toxic effects [1,2] . Approximately 50% of all pregnancies are unintended at conception; 50% of those occur in the 94% of sexually active couples who report using some methods of contraception [3] . The only male-specific contraceptive methods currently available are withdrawal, condoms, and vasectomy.…”