Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Emergency Contraception among Female High School Students in Lideta Sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2020/21 G.C.
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Date
2021-09
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: Each year, around 210 million women throughout the world get pregnant, of
which 21 million girls aged 15–19 years in developing regions become pregnant. More than
half of the teenage pregnancy in developing countries are unintended(1, 2). Emergency
contraception is among the different methods for prevention of unintended pregnancy. Despite
the existence of different modern and effective contraceptives methods worldwide, the problem
of unintended pregnancy is still high (3).
Objectives: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of Emergency Contraception in female
high school students in Lideta sub-city, Addis Ababa, 2020/21 G.C.
Methods: A mixed study was used. A cross-sectional, institution-based study was conducted
from September 1 to November 30, 2020 E.C., and a systematic sampling technique was used
for the quantitative study whereas for the qualitative study, an in-depth interview and purposive
sampling techniques was used. Quantitative data were cleaned, coded and entered into, and
analyzed using SPSS version 25. Data from in-depth interview was transcribed and translated
to English then coded using QDA software, and categorized into similar themes. Descriptive
statistics like frequency, measures of central tendencies were used to describe study participants
and to summarize the results of the study. The association of the independent variables was
done using logistic regression and chi-square test. Variables with P-value of ≤ 0.05 were
declared as statistically significant.
Result: A total of 257 female students have participated in the study with 100% total response
rate. The finding of our study showed that 37.4% of the respondents have good knowledge and
47.9% have positive attitude towards the use of EC. The main source of information about EC
was TV. Of the total respondents, only 8.2% have ever practiced sexual intercourse at least once
in their lifetime. Of those respondents who had sexual intercourse, 66.6% have ever used EC.
In the in-depth interview, when asked about the reason “why they don’t take or recommend EC
“, most mentioned ineffectiveness of post-pill in preventing pregnancy.
Conclusion: The result indicates that most of the respondents have heard about EC but the
cumulative knowledge score is low and only around half having positive attitude about EC.
Only a few of the respondents have used EC in their lifetime. We recommend a continuous
information delivery to high school students and a separate and scaled-up study should be done
to assess the knowledge, attitude, and utilization of EC among high school students.
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Keywords
Emergency, Contraception,Female ,Students