Knowledge and attitudes regarding the Emergency Contraceptive Pills among the Defence University students in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) is a method of hormonal contraception, which is indicated after unprotected sexual intercourse when regular contraceptive methods are not used. There is very scanty amount of information available in Sri Lanka regarding knowledge on the ECP. Hence, it is an important area to study as there are higher rates of maternal deaths due to unsafe abortions in Sri Lanka. ECP can be a strategy to reduce them. The objective of this study is to investigate the knowledge and attitudes regarding Emergency Contraceptive Pills among Defence University students. This is a descriptive cross sectional study conducted among 395 undergraduates of Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) using self-administered questionnaires during the period of July to October, 2016. Study participants were selected by stratified random sampling. Data was entered and analyzed using Minitab version 14. Among the total participants (n = 395), only 69.1% had heard of ECP. The main source of information was reported as formal education 47.1%. From the total participants, less than half, 45.5% students knew that ECP was important in post rape and 20.2% knew that it was important as a preferred contraceptive method. Among the study participants, 42.8% agreed to the idea that if ECP was readily available it might promote promiscuity among student. Most of the students, 42.5% thought that it was more effective to take ECP soon after unprotected sexual intercourse. Only 13.7% students knew the correct time gap between the doses which was 12 hours. Higher number of students, 57.5% has not received information regarding side effects or problems that might get from ECP. Meanwhile, 13.4% stated that ECP might prevent STI’s and HIV. Among the total participants, only 25 (6.5%) had used ECP. From the participants who had used ECP, 52% of them had experienced side effects. Only 23% knew about side effects of ECP. The current study results on influencing factors for knowledge indicated gender had a significant effect on every aspect of knowledge and attitudes on ECP while, religion did not have a significant effect on any aspect. Age, gender and year of study have a significant effect on knowledge on ECP while gender, year of study, and department has a significant effect on attitudes. Although the general awareness on ECP was reasonably good, majority did not have a sufficient knowledge on ECP for an effective usage. Most of the attitudes on ECP were towards positive.