Researchers conducted this study to investigate the characteristics of women attending for emergency contraception.
The study design was a descriptive survey design was used to collect data. Questionnaires were completed over four weeks. Data were analyzed using SPSS.
The study setting was a community family planning services in South West Surrey and Newham, East London.
The participants were the consenting women aged 14-44 years attending for emergency contraception (n = 171).
The primary outcome measures were the users’ description, the current episode, and contact with contraceptive services were analyzed by age.
The age range was 14-37 years (mean 20.2 years). A majority were smokers. Of the women, 97.7% attended the clinic within the 72-hour time frame for issuing oral EC. However, only 4% came within 12 hours of intercourse; 55% said they had used contraception. Condom breakage was the most typical reason for failure. Reasons for not using contraception included getting ‘carried away’ (35%), not having condoms available (22%), and having drunk alcohol (13%). Of the sample, 55.6% were previous users of EC.
The study concluded that health professionals need to ensure that clients have appropriate information about EC and traditional contraceptive methods and that user-friendly provision is widely available.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/27/4/209
