Determinants of emergency contraceptive utilization among female tertiary students in the middle belt of Ghana, West Africa

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency Contraceptives (ECs) are after-coital contraceptive methods used before implantation. These give females in the sexually active age group the opportunity to prevent unplanned pregnancies after refusing to patronize a contraceptive before unprotected sexual intercourse or when a regular contraceptive fails and or when raped. Higher education students fall under the sexually active age category and form a higher risk group for unplanned pregnancy because of inadequate utilization of ECs. The aim of this study was to identify the determinants of ECs utilization among female tertiary students in the Middle Belt of Ghana, West Africa. Methods: institutional-based descriptive cross-sectional study design was used with quantitative method in collecting the data from 28th March 2022 to 18th April 2022. A total of 535 female tertiary students were recruited using simple random proportionate sampling technique. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and entered into Stata version 15 and analyzed descriptively and inferentially using Chi-squared test. A conventional p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: out of the 535 respondents that were interviewed, majority (426 (79.6%) were aware of ECs. However, only 44 (9.4%) had good knowledge of ECs utilization. All respondents who were affiliated to traditional religion had poor knowledge. About half of 279 (52.1%) indicated they ever utilized ECs and 200 (71.7%) of these said the efficacy of ECs was between 75-99%. Regarding barriers to ECs utilization, 333 (20.5%) indicated ECs cause infertility and 330 (20.4%) mentioned the fear of being seen by others. All Chi-square test of associations of demographic characteristics and knowledge on ECs were not statistically significant (p≥0.05). Conclusion: the study reported that ECs utilization among female tertiary students was quite low despite majority being aware of them. Most of them had poor knowledge on ECs utilization, even though majority had not experienced unplanned pregnancies. Further reproductive health and family planning education and promotion initiatives directed on the utilizations of ECs, their efficacies and typology are needed, especially among future health professionals who will later educate other young adults.