Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Kumasi South Hospital, Ghana Health Service, Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana.
District Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Obuasi East, Obuasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 3;17(3):e0264619. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264619. eCollection 2022.
Unintended pregnancy leads to unsafe abortion, which is one of the commonest causes of maternal deaths in developing countries including Ghana. Lots of unintended pregnancies can be avoided using emergency contraceptives (EC). Emergency contraceptives are mostly used after unprotected sexual intercourse and have a ninety-nine percent chance of preventing unintended pregnancy when taken correctly. However, unlike other modern contraceptives such as condoms, emergency contraceptives cannot prevent sexually transmitted infections.
This study aimed at assessing the factors influencing the use of emergency contraceptives among reproductive-age women in the Kwadaso Municipality, Ghana.
A community-based descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted in three sub-municipalities of the Kwadaso Municipality. A multistage sampling method was used to select 312 women in their reproductive age within households. A simple random sampling method was first used to select the sub-municipalities (Kwadaso Central, Asuoyeboah, and Agric-Nzema). Participants were selected from households through a systematic sampling procedure and responses were solicited from women who consented to participate in the study. The selection was strictly dependent on the number of eligible women in a household, that is, in an event where more than one woman was found in a household, a simple random sampling method was used to select only one woman from that household. STATA 15.0 was used to analyse the data. Binary logistic regression was used to find the adjusted estimates and associations between EC use and the exposure variables. P-values ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant at 95% Confidence Interval (CI).
The findings showed that 79.67% of the women had ever used EC. Amongst them, 59.83% used EC following unexpected unprotected sex, and 24.69% used EC following failed coitus interruptus. Women's attitude towards EC (AOR = 8.52, p<0.001), religion (AOR = 4.56, p = 0.004), and monthly income (AOR = 0.29, p = 0.030) were found to have significant influence on their use of EC.
The level of EC use among the women was high. Women's attitude towards EC, religion, and monthly income were the major factors influencing the use of EC. Thus, strategies to promote EC use should emphasize on addressing the attitude of women towards EC through sex education in schools, various religious institutions, and the community at large with the services of health authorities and support from governmental and non-governmental organizations whose focus is to address the need for reproductive health services in order to reduce the misconception regarding the use of EC.
意外怀孕会导致不安全的堕胎，这是包括加纳在内的发展中国家产妇死亡的最常见原因之一。使用紧急避孕药（EC）可以避免很多意外怀孕。紧急避孕药主要在无保护性行为后使用，如果正确使用，有 99%的几率可以预防意外怀孕。然而，与其他现代避孕药具（如避孕套）不同，紧急避孕药并不能预防性传播感染。
本研究旨在评估加纳夸扎索市育龄妇女使用紧急避孕药的影响因素。
采用社区为基础的描述性横断面研究设计，在夸扎索市的三个分区进行。采用多阶段抽样方法，在家庭中选择 312 名处于生育期的妇女。首先采用简单随机抽样方法选择分区（夸扎索中央、阿苏奥耶博阿和农业-热姆扎）。通过系统抽样程序从家庭中选择参与者，并向同意参加研究的妇女征求意见。选择完全取决于家庭中符合条件的妇女人数，即如果在一个家庭中发现不止一名妇女，则使用简单随机抽样方法从该家庭中选择一名妇女。使用 STATA 15.0 分析数据。采用二项逻辑回归法找出 EC 使用与暴露变量之间的调整估计值和关联。置信区间（CI）为 95%时，P 值≤0.05 为统计学意义显著。
研究结果表明，79.67%的妇女曾使用过 EC。其中，59.83%的人因意外无保护性行为而使用 EC，24.69%的人因避孕失败而使用 EC。妇女对 EC 的态度（AOR=8.52，p<0.001）、宗教（AOR=4.56，p=0.004）和月收入（AOR=0.29，p=0.030）对她们使用 EC 有显著影响。
该地区妇女 EC 的使用率较高。妇女对 EC 的态度、宗教信仰和月收入是影响 EC 使用的主要因素。因此，推广 EC 使用的策略应通过学校、各种宗教机构和社区开展性教育，强调改变妇女对 EC 的态度，卫生当局提供服务并得到政府和非政府组织的支持，这些组织的重点是解决生殖健康服务需求，以减少对 EC 使用的误解。
