Abstract
Telephone surveys conducted among US adults and obstetricians-gynecologists revealed limited awareness or promotion of emergency contraception. In the first survey (1994) involving a nationally representative sample of 2002 male and female adults 36% were aware something can be done to prevent pregnancy within a few days after unprotected intercourse and 55% had heard of emergency contraceptive pills but only 9% of those aware of the method knew a woman has up to 72 hours after unprotected sex to initiate method use. Only 1% reported that they or their partner had used emergency contraception. Knowledge of this method was highest among those who had discussed birth control with a health care provider those with at least some college education older respondents and non-Hispanic Whites. The second survey (1995) involved 307 obstetricians and gynecologists randomly selected from the American Medical Associations master file. 70% had no objections or concerns about prescribing emergency contraception and 78% considered the method effective. Although 70% had prescribed emergency contraceptive pills in the past year 77% of these had done so no more than 5 times and only 7% regularly discussed the method with clients during routine contraceptive counseling. The findings of both these surveys point to a need for health care providers to take a more active role in offering information about postcoital contraception to their patients.
Published Version
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