title: Patients' emergency contraception comprehension, usage, and view of the emergency department role for emergency contraception.
abstract: Female Emergency Department (ED) patients were surveyed to determine their comprehension of the concept of emergency contraception (EC), to assess how often they had used EC in comparison to other forms of contraception, and to learn which patients want the ED to provide EC services. Most of the 761 respondents were aged < 35 years (62.1%), never married (42.9%), had been pregnant at least once (70.2%), had never had an abortion (76.1%), had never used EC (90.6%), and had sex with a man within the past month (70.7%). Respondents were 2.5 times more likely to have had an abortion than to have used EC; 85.3% could not correctly answer two questions that assessed comprehension of the concept of EC; 43.1% wanted the ED to offer EC, 55.6% to provide information about EC, and 52.6% to refer patients for EC. Younger patients, those who attended religious services infrequently, patients who had ever used EC, and those at risk of pregnancy were more likely to want the ED to provide EC services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Brown Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Roland C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Merchant
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Casadei
authors.forename: Erin M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Gee
authors.forename: Beth C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Bruce M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D047568:Unsafe Sex; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital