KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES AMONG ADAMA UNIVERSITY FEMALE STUDENTS

Main Article Content

Dejene Tilahun
Tsion Assefa
Tefera Belachew

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Unwanted pregnancy followed by unsafe abortion is one of the major worldwide health problems,which has ma ny negative consequences on the health and well -being of women. Information about women’sknowledge, attitude and practice of emergency contraceptives plays a major role in the reduc tion of unwantedpregnancy; however, there are no studies about this issue in the study area. This study assessed Adama Universityfemale students’ knowledge, attitude and practice of emergency contraceptives.METHOD: A cross-sectional study design was employed from February 1 to 30/2009, on 660 regularundergraduate female students of Adama University. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS for windowsversion 16.0. Logistic regression was used to identify the association between variables and emergen cycontraceptive knowledge, attitude and practice. P-value less than 0.05 at 95% CI was taken for statisticalsignificance.RESULTS: Of the total, 660 respondents, 194(29.4%) were sexually active, 63(9.4%) had history of pregnancy and49(7.4%) had history of abortion. About 309 (46.8%) of the students had heard about emergency contraceptives andfrom those who heard emergency contraceptives, 27.2% had good knowledge. Majority, four hundred fifteen(62.9%) of the students had positive attitude towards it. However, only 31(4.7%) had used emergency contraceptivemethods.CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated lack of awareness, knowledge and utilization of emergencycontraceptives among Adama University female students. Hence behavioral change strategies should be consideredby responsible bodies to improve knowledge and bring attitudinal change on use of emergency contraception.

Article Details

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Original Article
Author Biographies

Dejene Tilahun

(BSc, MPH)

Tsion Assefa

(BSc, MPH)

Tefera Belachew

 (MD, MSc)