Awareness and Utilization of Emergency Contraceptive among Second Cycle Primary Female Evening Students in Hawassa

Adinew, Alemayehu (2013) Awareness and Utilization of Emergency Contraceptive among Second Cycle Primary Female Evening Students in Hawassa. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

An unintended pregnancy is mistimed or unwanted one. It is a public health problem which affects maternal and child health. Unintended pregnancies are also significant among adolescents. Unintended pregnancy is a big problem in Ethiopia particularly among these age groups. Sexual violence is another major health problem because of consequences such as unwanted pregnancy abortion and sexually transmitted diseases and physical and mental trauma all of which could contribute to the high rate of female drop out from schools. Emergency contraception utilization can potentially reduce unintended pregnancies resulted from unprotected sexual intercourse or sexual violence and thus the risks related to it. Disparities in knowledge, access and use of family planning methods have also been observed in the country. This study assessed awareness and utilization of emergency contraceptive among second cycle primary school female evening students. A cross sectional study design was used. A total of 628 self administered questionnaire were distributed in class rooms for second cycle primary school (Grade 5-8) female evening students in Hawassa whose age was ≥ 15 years to assess their awareness, attitude and practice of emergency contraceptive and to identify their determinants which will be helpful in designing strategies to address reproductive health needs. The response rate was 463 (73.73%). To complement the quantitative data, key informant interview was also held with Family Guidance Association Ethiopia; Hawassa Branch, school directors, community pharmacy professional and DKT Ethiopia Hawassa branch manager. To determine the association between dependent and independent variables, multivariate logistic regression model at 95% confidence interval was used. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. Among 463 students surveyed, 120 (25.9%) of them ever had sexual intercourse the mean age at first sexual intercourse was 15.5 (SD+ 2.17); (10-20 years) and 74 (16%) had ever used contraceptives. Of those who had ever heard about emergency contraception (EC), 120 (55.8%) knew at least one correct method of EC. Only 34 (28.3%) of respondents who have ever heard about EC, had good knowledge of EC. 73 (60.8%) of the respondents had favorable attitude towards EC. However, only 27 (5.8%) study participants had ever used EC. In spite of this, of those who had ever used Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECPs), 6 (42.9%) of respondents used it more than one time with mean frequency of 4.00 (SD±3.00). In the adjusted logistic regression model, ever heard of Family Planning (FP) and grade level were identified to be positively associated [(AOR= 1.885; CI (1.032-3.443), (AOR=2.119; CI (1.083-4.147) for grade seven and AOR=2.068; CI (1.126-3.797) for grade eight respectively] with awareness about EC. Marital status, contraceptives use experience, fair and good knowledge of EC were identified as [(AOR=0.060; CI (0.005-0.771) for widowed, AOR=0.100; CI (0.22-0.446) for divorced, AOR=0.007; CI (0.002-0.022) and AOR=0.006; CI (0.002-0.023) respectively] negatively associated with attitude. Sexual intercourse experience, fair and good knowledge of EC had positive association [AOR=67.578; CI (6.382-715.533), AOR=15.565; CI (2.316-104.623) and AOR=89.324; CI (10.821-737.313) respectively] with utilization of EC. Awareness and utilization of EC among primary second cycle female evening students were found to be low. In addition, ever heard about FP, grade level, marital status, contraceptives use experience, fair, good knowledge of EC, sexual intercourse experience were identified to be determinants of awareness and utilization of EC. Due to this fact, stakeholders should collaborate and come up with ways by which awareness could be improved.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Subjects: R Medicine > RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology
R Medicine > RS Pharmacy and materia medica
Divisions: Africana
Depositing User: Vincent Mpoza
Date Deposited: 27 Jun 2018 14:26
Last Modified: 27 Jun 2018 14:26
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/6067

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