title: Sexual, relationship, contraceptive and personal factors influencing emergency contraception use: a qualitative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Emergency contraception (EC) has not achieved its abortion reduction potential in the United States in part due to nonuse. Understanding use behaviors may increase EC promotion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Interviews were conducted with 30 EC users aged 18-35 years. Interviews were analyzed for salient themes using ATLAS/ti. We used an analytical framework including personal context (life circumstances motivating pregnancy prevention), contraceptive context (knowledge, attitudes and experience), sexual context (planned/unplanned intercourse) and relationship context.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our sample was primarily college-educated, nulliparous, single women. EC users were motivated to prevent pregnancy, but unwilling or unable to use contraceptive methods due to ambivalence, fear, limited access or difficulty with use. Favorable attitudes toward EC, desire to defer pregnancy, infrequent intercourse, partner support of EC and relationship instability facilitated EC use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EC fills an important gap in preventing pregnancy for motivated women who struggle with contraceptive use. Contextual factors informed women's EC behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neustadt
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holmquist
authors.forename: Shawna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilliam
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D044363:Contraception, Postcoital / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult