International Journal of Medicine and Health Development (Jan 2016)

Relevance of medical education and knowledge in utilization of emergency contraceptives among female undergraduates in Abakaliki South-East Nigeria

  • Azubuike K Onyebuchi,
  • Lucky O Lawani,
  • Chukwuemeka A Iyoke,
  • Robinson C Onoh,
  • Chukwuemeka I Ukaegbe,
  • Christian M Nwafor

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4314/jcm.v21i1.4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 1
pp. 27 – 35

Abstract

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Background: Despite the availability of highly effective emergency contraceptives, the risk of unintended pregnancy remains a major challenge to the reproductive wellbeing of young women. Aims: To evaluate and compare the knowledge, usage and practice of emergency contraception (EC) among medical and non-medical undergraduates and the risk of unintended pregnancy between the two groups. Method: A cross sectional comparative study of female medical and non-medical students was conducted among female undergraduates at a University in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Four hundred and twenty four (424) female undergraduates were interviewed with pre-tested self administered semistructured and confidential questionnaires. Data was analyzed with SPSS package version 20. The level of statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05. Results: There were 424 respondents; made up of 214 medical and 210 non-medical undergraduates. The response rate was 85.6%. Over two-thirdof medical students (153/214; 71.5%) and more than half of non-medical students (115/210; 54.8%) were aware of emergency contraception [OR= 0.52: 95% CI =0.33-0.82; p=0.002]. The commonest sources of information were lectures (20.0%; 43/214), and books (9.4%; 20/214) for medical students, and peers (27.1%; 57/210) for non-medical students. More medical students (92.1%; 197/214) had accurate knowledge of conventional EC than non-medical students (60.3%; 129/210), [OR=1.31; CI (0.75-4.08), p=0.01]. Over one-quarter (27.8%; 118/424) of respondents used Levonorgestrel as EC. The risk of unintended pregnancy was higher among nonmedical students 46(62.2%) than medical students 28(37.8%): [OR= 1.04, CI (0.37-2.96), p=0.03]. Unsafe abortion was also higher among non-medical students (41%) than their medical peers (11%): [OR=1.71; CI (1.03-2.83), p=0.02]. Conclusion: Medical undergraduates were found to have greater knowledge and usage of emergency contraception, with less risk of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion than their non-medical counterpart. Creation of widespread awareness of effective EC is recommended to ensure proper utilization.

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