The Pan African Medical Journal (Feb 2017)

Knowledge and utilization of contraceptive devices among unmarried undergraduate students of a tertiary institution in Kano State, Nigeria 2016

  • Zainab Datti Ahmed,
  • Ibrahim Baffa Sule,
  • Mohammed Lukman Abolaji,
  • Yahaya Mohammed,
  • Patrick Nguku

DOI
https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.2017.26.103.11436
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 26, no. 103

Abstract

Read online

INTRODUCTION: students in the universities mostly live independently from their parents or guardians, some of them for the first time. This gives them freedom and opportunity for high risk behavior such as unplanned and unprotected sex. The results of such sexual experimentation may include unplanned and or unwanted pregnancies that may lead to unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS. Contraception has the potential to prevent unwanted pregnancies, abortion, and STIs. This study aimed at assessing the general knowledge on contraceptives, sexual practices, and level of utilization of contraceptives devices among unmarried students of the Bayero University Kano. METHODS: we did an institutional based cross-sectional descriptive study. We administered a pretested, self-administered, structured questionnaire to randomly selected unmarried undergraduate students of the institution. We analyzed data using Microsoft Excel 2016 and Epi-info7. RESULTS: a total of 300 students were interviewed. The median age for respondents was 23years with an age range of 16,25years. Male respondents make up 61.3%(184) while the females made up the remaining 38.7%(116). Also, 158(47.33%) of respondents live outside the school campus, while 158(52.67%) live in the school hostels. Knowledge on contraception was 87.7% among respondents with internet (91%) and media (89.3%) as their commonest sources of knowledge. Proportion of sexually active students was 10.67%, while prevalence of contraceptive utilization among sexually active students was 15.63%. About 8(25%) had their sexual debut at 16years of age, 22(68.75%) at ages between 16-20years, and 4(12.5%) above 20years of age. All sexually active respondents practice vaginal sex. Most sexual debuts are planned (44.75 %) and with friends (86.4%), and they occurred between the ages of 16-20years age group in 70.3% of respondents. CONCLUSION: even though knowledge on contraceptive used was high among the respondents, utilization of contraceptives among sexually active students was low, thus creating a window for possible unintended and unwanted pregnancies among these group of students.

Keywords