Awareness and practice of emergency contraception among university students in abakaliki, southeast Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Unprotected sexual exposure leading to unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion contributes significantly to reproductive ill health, especially in developing countries. Promotion of emergency contraception (EC) has been advocated as a way of reducing these problems. Our youth, the most vulnerable group, should therefore be the target for this form of contraception. Objective: To evaluate the awareness and practice of emergency contraception among University students. Methods: A semi- structured self-administered questionnaire was developed and distributed to 500 randomly selected students of Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria. Information regarding their awareness and practice were sought. The response rate was 100%. Result: Fifty-six percent of the respondents were aware of EC. Of these, only 10.5% had used it. However, 41.2% agreed to use EC if they are exposed to unprotected intercourse. For those who knew about EC, 26.4% were aware it could be started within stipulated time of unprotected sexual exposure. Most students (46.8%) cited peer groups as their source of information while 6.0% knew about it from their parents. 86% of the respondents were sexually active. Conclusion: There is limited knowledge and poor practice of EC among the students of Ebonyi State University. There is an urgent need to improve knowledge and practice ofEC through reliable and accessible contraceptive information. This will help to reduce the gap between knowledge and practice.