Contraception and Unintended Pregnancy among Unmarried Female University Students: A Cross-sectional Study from China.

Hongjing Wang,Hongjing Wang,Meimei Zhang,Peng Wang,Jing Xu,Chang Shu,Hui Cai,Yue Wu,Chengliang Xiong,Xuejun Shang,Xuejun Shang,Ping Yin,Lu Long,Qinyu Wei,Bo Li,Xueyi Wang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130212

Abstract

This study aims to understand the level of contraceptive knowledge and attitudes towards contraception, and then to explore the association between the contraceptive behavior and unintended pregnancy in unmarried female university students in China. A cross-sectional study was conducted of university students in 49 universities across 7 cities in China from September 2007 to January 2008. We distributed 74,800 questionnaires, of which 69,842 were returned. In this paper, the data from 35,383 unmarried female university students were analyzed. The prevalence of sexual intercourse in unmarried female university students was 10.2%. The prevalence of unintended pregnancy in those sexually active female university students, was 31.8%. Among students with pregnancy, 53.5% experienced two or more pregnancies. 28.3% of the students with sexual intercourse reported that they always adopted contraceptive methods, and of those 82.9% chose to use male condoms. The majority (83.9%) of students with unintended pregnancy chose to terminate the latest pregnancy by surgical abortion or medical abortion. The contraceptive knowledge level of students who experienced unintended pregnancy was lower than those who did not. In China, about one third of unmarried female students with sexual intercourse experience unintended pregnancy. A variety of contraceptive methods are adopted, but the frequency of contraceptive use is low. Most of unmarried female students who experienced unintended pregnancy would choose to terminate the pregnancy with surgical or medical abortion. University students, especially the ones who have experienced unintended pregnancy, lack contraceptive and reproductive health knowledge.

Highlights

With the development of the economy and improving access to the internet and social media, people in China are becoming more open-minded and the values they hold are becoming more diversified [1]
3,595(10.2%) of 35,383 unmarried female students engaged in sexual intercourse, and 1,142(31.8%) of these experienced unintended pregnancy
Our sample was larger and included more regions as well as a greater range of student majors compared to the above; we believe that the prevalence of sexual intercourse reported here better represents that nationally

Summary

Introduction

With the development of the economy and improving access to the internet and social media, people in China are becoming more open-minded and the values they hold are becoming more diversified [1]. The attitudes of Chinese youth to marriage, family and sex have changed substantially in recent years [1]. Their attitudes towards the sex have become more and more indiscreet and premarital sexual intercourse have become more common[2]. After experiencing the pressure of college entrance examinations, these students have entered the stage of lives. They become more relaxed and more active in their personal lives as well as more open to the idea of premarital sexual intercourse. This, to a certain degree, might contribute to the increasingly common premarital sexual intercourse and off campus cohabitation among university students [7,9,10]

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion