title: Knowledge, attitude and practice of emergency contraceptive pills among tertiary level students in Trinidad: a cross-sectional survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to estimate the general knowledge, attitude and practice of Emergency Contraceptive pills (ECs) among tertiary level students in Trinidad.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 32-item questionnaire was constructed to assess knowledge, attitudes and practice of EC. There were 76 medical and 160 non-medical students who volunteered to fill-up the questionnaire. This survey was conducted by graduate students under supervision of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, UWI, St Augustine.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-four per cent of the students were less than 25 years of age, 64% were Christians and 92% were single. Sixty-three per cent were female and there were more females in the non-medical group than the medical students group but the numbers were not significant. Eighty-one per cent used condoms as the main type of contraception. Only 63% had heard of ECs before and only 9% had heard of ECs from medical sources. Among the factors that related to attitude towards EC, only two factors were significant. Sixty-two per cent of students felt that increased EC use would increase promiscuity (p = 0.013) but 59% also felt that ECs should be made more easily available (p = 0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The general level of their knowledge about ECs was poor. The general attitude of students towards ECs was positive. This study will help policy-makers by providing evidence-based knowledge to promote EC use among university students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, The University of West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Parey
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Addison
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Mark
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maurice
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wahid
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Antoine
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago
chemical_list: D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital