Emergency Contraception: Knowledge and Practices of Tertiary Students in Osun State, South Western Nigeria

Abstract

The contraceptive prevalence in our environment is very low with attendant increase in unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. The use of Emergency Contraception (EC) in women with unprotected intercourse could be the only option that can avoid the unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion with associated complications. The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of emergency contraceptive use among students of tertiary institutions in Osun State and to assess the knowledge and attitude towards emergency contraception. It was a descriptive cross-sectional study using self administered, structured questionnaire. The study population was students of State Polytechnic Iree and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. Data were entered and validated, and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 11 software. The Study revealed that majority of the respondents 241 (80.3%) had poor knowledge of emergency contraception. Majority of them 160 (55.3%) were sexually active while 32.6% of the sexually active respondents used contraceptives. Condom was the most used contraceptive. Among those using contraception, 86 (28.7%) were current users. Among the people surveyed, only 47 (15.7%) of them had used emergency contraception. Overall, there was a limited knowledge and use of emergency contraception by the students in this study. Evidently, there is a need for carefully designed educational programmes and promotion of EC in existent student health care centres on campuses.