A comparative study of the knowledge, attitudes and practices of emergency contraception by women of reproductive age among Urban and rural dwellers in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: A cross-sectional study was carried out to compare the knowledge, attitudes and practices of emergency contraception (EC) by women of reproductive age in an urban and a rural community in Enugu State in May, 2005. Materials and method: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 383 women who were selected by a multistage sampling technique. Results: Awareness of emergency contraception (EC) was generally high in both communities but significantly higher in the urban community, P=0.0001. However, knowledge of definition, names and timing of its administration was poor in both communities but worse in the rural community (P < 0.05). There was positive attitude towards EC with regards to its increased advertisement in both communities. More people favored the wide availability of EC in the urban women, P=0.002. Nevertheless, the practice of EC in both communities is still low being 36.3% among the urban women and 3.9% in the rural group. Conclusion/recommendation: The knowledge and practice of the women is poor and so there should be increased effort at creating awareness on the use of EC.

Keywords

• knowledge
• attitudes and practices (kap)
• emergency contraception
• urban women
• rural women
• nigeria