Factors that Influence Utilization of Emergency Contraceptives among Female Undergraduate Students, University of Kabianga, Kenya

Abstract

Higher rates of unplanned or unwanted pregnancies occur amongst university age women, with majority of them being unplanned. Emergency contraception comprises drugs with various dosages (the emergency contraceptive pill) or intrauterine devices used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse or after a recognized contraceptive failure. It could also be referred to as a group of birth control method that when used within demarcated time limits after unprotected intercourse can prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Therefore this study sought to determine factors that influenced emergency contraceptives utilization among undergraduate Students at University of Kabianga, Kenya. A cross sectional study was employed and stratified random sampling was used to get the selected sample. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. Univariate analysis was used for different quantitative variables and results presented using frequency tables, pie diagrams and bar charts. Bivariate analysis was used to determine the test of association between demographic factors, knowledge, attitude and the use of emergency contraceptives using chi-square test at 5% significance level. Out of the 154 respondents’ majority 37% were aged between 22 and 23 years. Majority of the respondents were single at 77.9%. A total of 113(73.4%) respondents were sexually active with majority of them using EC with a prevalence rate of 70%. More than half of the respondents were rated as knowledgeable at 53.2% though very few were able to identify IUCD at 1.9% as an EC. There was a favorable attitude (71.4%) towards EC. There was a significant association between utilization of EC and age of the respondents (p=0.015) and between utilization of EC and year of the study (p=0.002).In conclusion factors that influenced the uptake of emergency contraceptives among university age women were age and the year of study. The study recommends that students joining universities require enhanced health education on sexuality and proper use of emergency contraceptives so as to enable them make informed decisions when need arises.