Conhecimento, consumo e acesso à contracepção de emergência entre mulheres universitárias no sul do Estado de Santa Catarina

Abstract

The scope of this study was to investigate knowledge about and access to emergency contraception among female university students in the south of the State of Santa Catarina. A crosssectional observational study was conducted between September and October 2008, in which a questionnaire was given to 360 women aged 18 to 45 years. Most belonged to the B2 economic class or higher (74.2%) and 79.4% of them had already had intercourse. Of these, 48.6% had used emergency contraception, though this was more frequent among younger women. Emergency contraception was used 2.4 times, and 87.1% had used contraceptive methods within 24 hours after intercourse. Adverse reactions were reported by 20.9%, the most common being menstrual cycle changes (44.8%) and nausea (44.8%). The reasons for using emergency contraception included the lack of condom use (44.6%) and condom rupture (39.6%). Of the women interviewed, 15% either failed to answer the question on STD prevention or answered incorrectly, while 97.8% denied having changed the method used routinely. Only 2.9% of the participants had acquired the medication via prescription, and 35.3% received guidance on application of the medication at the time of purchase.