Knowledge and attitudes of Lebanese women of childbearing age towards emergency contraception

Abstract

Objectives: Unwanted pregnancy is sometimes associated with unsafe abortion, which may lead to maternal death. Pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse can be avoided by using emergency contraception (EC). Our study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of reproductive-aged Lebanese women towards EC use.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by interviewing randomly selected women aged between 15 and 49 years from the five major Lebanese governates. A pre-tested, pre-structured questionnaire was applied composed of three parts: (1) personal information, (2) knowledge about EC methods and (3) attitude towards EC.Results: We found that 78% of participants had never heard of EC. Among those who had heard of EC, only 29.3% had good knowledge about it. Knowledge about EC was not, however, associated with participants’ sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, marital status, educational level and background, occupation and occupational field and area of residence). There was a positive attitude towards EC among 57.3% of participants. Attitudes were statistically associated with level of education, area of residence and whether the respondent had ever heard of EC.Conclusion: Most Lebanese women of childbearing age lack knowledge about EC. There is a need to raise public awareness of EC.