EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION;

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the knowledge of family medicine health care providers and their attitude towards emergencycontraception (EC) in Lahore Medical and Dental College and out-patient centers of Ghurki Teaching Hospital Lahore. Data Source: MedlineData Base. Design of Study: Cross sectional descriptive study. Duration: 3 months period, from March to June 2011. Materials & Methods:Faculty physicians from different specialties, residents, and medical officers were included in the study. Data was collected on a structured precoded21 –item questionnaire containing demographic profile of the respondents and questions concerning their knowledge, attitudes andbeliefs towards emergency contraception. Results: In total 85 interviews were conducted with the response rate of 100%. There were 43facultymembers (50%), 14 residents (16%) and 28 medical officers (32%), 51 male (60%), 34 female (40%) physicians, the majority58 (68%) weremarried. Although 79 of the respondents (92.9%) reported considerable familiarity with EC, objective assessment revealed deficiency in theirknowledge. Only 41(48%) correctly chose menstrual irregularity not being most common side effect of Per oral emergency contraception(POEC) while only 28(32.9%) of respondents answered that EC is not an abortifacient. Only 30 respondents (35%) had an opportunity to learnabout EC through workshops. Among the barriers identified 27 respondents believe that as use of POEC would promote sexual promiscuity(31%)and 59 were concerned about birth defects/ side effects (69%).Religious and ethical barriers were also a concern in 57(67%) and62(69%) of the respondents respectively. Overall attitudes regarding emergency contraception were positive, however 45(52.9%) wereunsatisfied with their current knowledge and 77 (90%) were interested in learning more about EC. Conclusions: Physicians need moredetailed information about EC, which would increase the application rate of the users and decrease their own prejudices