Awareness of emergency contraception among female college students in Chandigarh, India.
Adolescents and young women are at the greatest risk of unintended pregnancy because they are unlikely to see a family planning provider before or immediately after the sexual activity. Therefore, preventing unintended pregnancy among them is the important concern. Sexually active young women are clients with special needs for contraception. They are eligible to use a variety of the available contraceptives. Introduction of emergency contraception (EC) in the recent past can help them avoid such unintended pregnancies.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the awareness of emergency contraception in female college students.


METHODS
Cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study.


METHODS
This study was conducted among college-going undergraduate and graduate female students of Punjab University, Chandigarh. Systematic random sampling was used to select the respondents.


RESULTS
Of the 1,017 college students included in the study, 507 (49.9%) knew about different contraceptive methods. Maximum awareness was regarding oral contraceptive pills (239, 47.1%). Only 74 (7.3%) had knowledge about emergency contraceptive pills (ECP). Of them, 10 (14.7%) students knew the correct time for use of ECP and the side effects of ECP were known to 48 (88.9%) respondents.


CONCLUSIONS
Awareness about ECP was very low among female college students of Chandigarh, especially regarding correct timing of its use and its side effects. Appropriate awareness programs on EC are needed for them.
Puri
Sonia
S
Department of Community Medicine, Govt Medical College and Hospital Chandigarh, India. soniagpuri@yahoo.com
Bhatia
Vikas
V
Swami
H M
HM
Singh
Amarjit
A
Sehgal
Alka
A
Kaur
Amrit Pal
AP
D022126:Access to Information; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D044363:Contraception, Postcoital / Q000379:methods; D003280:Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D016912:Levonorgestrel / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D003280:Contraceptives, Oral, Synthetic; D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital; D016912:Levonorgestrel