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Knowledge and consumption of emergency contraception pills in a tertiary education student population

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Abstract

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year there are 200 million pregnancies, of which 75 million are unintended. Emergency contraception pills (ECPs) are one of the available methods to prevent an unintended pregnancy, after unprotected sexual intercourse or contraceptive failure. The aim of this study was to quantify the consumption, characterize the level of knowledge, and understand the factors that induce the use of ECPs in tertiary students.

Methods

An observational, cross-sectional, and retrospective survey was conducted at two tertiary education institutions (Coimbra Health School and Coimbra Education School) between January and April 2015. A written survey was applied to a convenience sample of female and male students at these schools. The survey questions comprised three areas: sociodemographic indicators; knowledge of ECPs; and previous consumption of ECPs (females only). Descriptive statistics and chi-square of independence test were used.

Results

Most of the students had heard about ECPs and used them mainly for “forgetfulness or contraceptive failure” (63.8%) or “sex without using a contraceptive” (22.4%). Students’ main information sources were school, friends, and the internet. There was a higher level of knowledge in female students, students from the Coimbra Health School (vs students from the Coimbra Education School), and students who had received healthcare professional counseling (p < 0.01). Regarding consumption, the majority (74.1%) were first-time users of ECPs and almost all ECPs were obtained in the pharmacy (91.4%).

Conclusions

In Portugal, ECPs are available over the counter, which facilitates their obtainment. There was some knowledge among students, however lack of information about this subject should be taken into account in further studies. Communication with the students to improve their risk perception and knowledge is key to improving the safer use of ECPs.

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Acknowledgements

The manuscript has been read and approved by all authors and all authors agree to the submission of the manuscript to the journal. The authors would like to thank Amy Downing for permission to use the questionnaire and Clara Rocha, Ph.D. at the Coimbra Health School for her contribution to the data analysis.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, ESTESC-Coimbra Health School, Farmácia, Portugal

    João Joaquim, Marlene Reis, Cristiano Matos, José Lopes & Timóteo Pires

  2. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    João Joaquim

  3. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, University of Seville, Seville, Spain

    Cristiano Matos

Authors
  1. João Joaquim
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  2. Marlene Reis
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  3. Cristiano Matos
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  4. José Lopes
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  5. Timóteo Pires
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to João Joaquim.

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Ethical approval

The study was approved by the involved institutions. Confidentiality of the participants was assured.

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Informed consent forms were signed by all participants.

Funding

No sources of funding was used to assist in the preparation of this manuscript.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare to have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study.

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Joaquim, J., Reis, M., Matos, C. et al. Knowledge and consumption of emergency contraception pills in a tertiary education student population. Drugs Ther Perspect 34, 583–589 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40267-018-0557-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40267-018-0557-4

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