An evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and practices of South African university students regarding the use of emergency contraception and of art as an advocacy tool

Determinant of emergency contraceptive practice among female university students in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Despite Ethiopia’s government’s commitment to alleviating unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion by increasing holistic reproductive health service accessibility, the rate of unwanted pregnancy among female students in the universities is distressing and becoming a multisectoral concern. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to assess the prevalence and determinant of emergency contraceptive practice among female university students in Ethiopia.

Result

The overall pooled prevalence of emergency contraceptive practice among female university students in Ethiopia was 34.5% [95% CI [20.8, 48.2%]. The pooled odds ratio showed that positive association between practice of emergency contraceptives with age of the students [OR, 0.19; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.98, P = 0.05] Previous contraceptive methods use [OR, 0.22; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.40, P = 0.0001], Marital status [OR, 0.09; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.40, P < 0.002] and knowledge [OR, 0.12; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.37, P < 0.0003].

Conclusion

The practice of emergency contraceptives among university female students was 34.5% and explained by knowledge, age, previous use of contraceptive methods and marital status.

Evidence on factors influencing contraceptive use and sexual behavior among women in South Africa: A scoping review

INTRODUCTION

Contraceptive use and sexual health behavior remain a prominent public health concern in South Africa (SA). Despite many government interventions, unintended pregnancies and termination of pregnancies remain relatively high. This review aimed to map evidence on factors influencing contraceptive use and sexual behavior in SA.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We searched for articles from the following databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, American Doctoral Dissertations via EBSCO host, Union Catalogue of Theses and Dissertations (UCTD) and SA ePublications via SABINET Online and World Cat Dissertations, Theses via OCLC and Google Scholar. Studies published from January 1990 to March 2018 were included. We used the Population, Concept, and Context (PCC) framework and the PRISMA chart to report the screening of results. The Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 11 and ACCODS tools were used to determine the quality of the included studies.

RESULTS

A total of 2030 articles were identified by our search criteria for title screening. Only 21 studies met our inclusion criteria and were included in quality assessment stage. We found that knowledge of a contraceptive method, length of a relationship, sexual debut, age difference between partners availability of a contraceptive method, long waiting hours, and nurse's attitudes toward human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive or younger clients predict whether or not women use a contraceptive method or improve sexual behavior.

CONCLUSION

There remains a necessity for improving educational programs aimed at transferring knowledge on contraceptives and sexual behavior to both women and their male counterparts, alongside the public health systems' improvements.

Emergency contraceptive knowledge, attitudes and practices among female students at the University of Botswana: A descriptive survey

Background

Unintended pregnancies are associated with unsafe abortions and maternal deaths, particularly in countries such as Botswana, where abortion is illegal. Many of these unwanted pregnancies could be avoided by using emergency contraception, which is widely available in Botswana.

Aim

To assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices of female students with regard to emergency contraception at the University of Botswana.

Setting

Students from University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.

Methods

A descriptive survey among 371 students selected from all eight faculties at the university. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.

Results

The mean age was 20.6 years (SD 1.62), 58% were sexually active, 22% had used emergency contraception and 52% of pregnancies were unintended. Of the total respondents, 95% replied that they had heard of emergency contraception; however, only 53% were considered to have good knowledge, and 55% had negative attitudes towards its use. Students from urban areas had better knowledge than their rural counterparts (p = 0.020). Better knowledge of emergency contraception was associated with more positive attitudes towards actual use (p < 0.001). Older students (p < 0.001) and those in higher years of study (p = 0.001) were more likely to have used emergency contraception.

Conclusion

Although awareness of emergency contraception was high, level of knowledge and intention to use were low. There is a need for a targeted health education programme to provide accurate information about emergency contraception.