Factors Associated With Emergency Contraceptives Use Among Reproductive Age Women In Two Tertiary Institutions In The Greater Accra Region

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Date

2022-07

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University Of Ghana

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency contraception (EC) is a method of preventing unwanted/unplanned pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse, mismanagement of regular contraception or nonuse of contraception. This will help curb the increasing incidence of unsafe abortions in developing countries. The national data on contraceptives in Ghana shows a high level of knowledge of EC among the people but its usage is very low. Factors including the socio-economic, socio-demographic, and sexual and reproductive history affecting the use are yet to be fully understood. This study sought to assess the factors influencing the use of EC among female students of the University of Ghana. Method: The study was an cross-sectional study involving 473 female students from the University of Ghana and Central University. The participants were selected randomly for the study from various halls in both schools. Self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the study participants. Chi Square test was used to determine the statistical association between emergency contraceptive use and independent variables of interest. SPSS version 25 software was used for the analysis. P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Descriptive statistics was done for each variable. The association between the dependent (EC use) and indealyzed using logistic regressions. The result of the logistic regression analysis was reported as odds ratios (OR) at 95 % CI. Results: The mean age of the reproductive age women was 23.3 years } 4.4. Majority of the participants were sexually active (63.7%). The mean age for the first sexual intercourse among the participants was 19.5 years } 3.1. About 77.4% of the study participants had heard of EC. Friends (77.6%) were the main sources of information about EC. Most of the students correctly used EC and only few misused it (in terms of stipulated time of use and the required doses taken). The study showed that availability of EC on campus (P=0.006), safety of EC (P<0.001), comfortability of EC use (P<0.001), heard of EC (P<0.001) sexually active (P<0.001) and effectiveness of EC (P<0.001) were all statistically associated with EC use. Age, marital status, religion, tribe, college, sexually active, number of men slept with in your entire life, ever had abortion, any concern about EC, working along schooling were all statistically significant with EC use. Conclusion: This study showed that the socio-demographic, sexual and reproductive history and socio-economic status were all significantly associated with EC use.

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MPhil. Applied Epidemiology And Disease Control.

Keywords

Emergency Contraceptives, Reproductive Age Women, Greater Accra Region

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