International Master Programme in Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden.
BMC Public Health. 2012 Feb 9;12:110. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-110.
Emergency contraception (EC) is a type of modern contraception which is indicated after unprotected sexual intercourse when regular contraception is not in use. The importance of EC is evident in preventing unintended pregnancies and its ill consequences like unintended child delivery or unsafe abortion, which are the most common causes of maternal mortality. Therefore, EC need to be available and used appropriately as a backup in case regular contraception is not used, misused or failed. Knowing that Ethiopia is one of the countries with highest maternal mortality rate, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of EC, and to further elucidate the relationship between these factors and some socioeconomic and demographic characteristics among female undergraduate students of Addis Ababa University (AAU). This information will contribute substantially to interventions intended to combat maternal mortality.
A Cross-sectional quantitative study among 368 AAU undergraduate students was conducted using self-administered questionnaire. Study participants were selected by stratified random sampling. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 17. Results were presented using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation and logistic regression.
Among the total participants (n = 368), only 23.4% were sexually active. Majority (84.2%) had heard of EC; 32.3% had a positive attitude towards it. The main source of information reported by the respondents was Media (69.3%). Among those who were sexually active, about 42% had unprotected sexual intercourse. Among those who had unprotected sexual intercourse, 75% had ever used EC. Sexually active participants had significantly better attitude towards EC than sexually inactive participants (crude OR 0.33(0.15-0.71)); even after adjusting for possible confounders such as age, region, religion, ethnicity, marital status, department and family education and income (adj. OR 0.36(0.15-0.86)).
The study showed high EC awareness and usage in contrast to other studies in the city, which could be due to the fact that university students are relatively in a better educational level. Therefore, it is highly recommended that interventions intended to combat maternal mortality through contraceptive usage need to be aware of such information specific to the target groups.
紧急避孕（EC）是一种现代避孕方法，用于在未使用常规避孕方法时进行无保护性行为。EC 的重要性在于预防意外怀孕及其不良后果，如意外分娩或不安全堕胎，这些是导致产妇死亡的最常见原因。因此，如果未使用、误用或失败常规避孕方法，EC 需要作为后备方法提供并正确使用。鉴于埃塞俄比亚是产妇死亡率最高的国家之一，本研究旨在评估 EC 的知识、态度和实践，并进一步阐明这些因素与亚的斯亚贝巴大学（AAU）女大学生的一些社会经济和人口统计学特征之间的关系。这些信息将对旨在降低产妇死亡率的干预措施做出重要贡献。
对 368 名 AAU 女大学生进行了横断面定量研究，采用自填式问卷。研究参与者通过分层随机抽样选择。使用 SPSS 版本 17 输入和分析数据。结果采用描述性统计、交叉表和逻辑回归进行呈现。
在所有参与者中（n=368），只有 23.4%有过性行为。大多数（84.2%）听说过 EC；32.3%对其持积极态度。受访者报告的主要信息来源是媒体（69.3%）。在有过性行为的参与者中，约有 42%有过无保护性行为。在有过无保护性行为的参与者中，有 75%曾经使用过 EC。有性行为的参与者对 EC 的态度明显优于无性行为的参与者（未调整 OR 0.33（0.15-0.71））；即使在调整了年龄、地区、宗教、种族、婚姻状况、系别和家庭教育和收入等可能的混杂因素后（调整后的 OR 0.36（0.15-0.86））。
该研究表明，EC 的知晓率和使用率较高，与该城市的其他研究结果形成对比，这可能是因为大学生处于较好的教育水平。因此，强烈建议旨在通过避孕措施降低产妇死亡率的干预措施需要了解针对目标群体的此类信息。
