ABSTRACT

Emergency contraception is a method of contraception that is used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse. This study was undertaken to determine the knowledge and practice of emergency contraception among female undergraduates in University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. This study was carried out to determine the level of knowledge of emergency contraception, identify the sources of information on emergency contraception, determine the practice of emergency contraception, determine the association between age; level of study and the knowledge and practice of emergency contraception and compare the knowledge of students studying health-related courses and students studying non-health-related courses. The target population was female undergraduates of UNEC. Multi-stage and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample for study.206 female students participated in the study and data was collected using researcher’s constructed and validated questionnaire. Simple descriptive statistics was used to test for objectives and inferential test statistics was used. Out of 206 participants, 188 respondents returned their questionnaires. Most female students (71.3%) had knowledge of emergency contraception while (28.7%) had no knowledge of EC. The major sources of information of EC were lectures (58.2%) and friends (48.5%) and the types of EC they had heard were mostly Postinor-2 (66.4%) and IUCD (32.8%). Out of 188 respondents, only a few (32%) had ever used EC while a good number (83%) had not. In conclusion, despite the level of knowledge of EC was high, the practice of EC among female undergraduates in UNEC was low.

BLE OF CONTENTS

Title Pagei

Certification Pageii

Abstractiii

Dedicationiv

Acknowledgementv

Table of Contentvi

List of Tablesviii

List of Figuresix

Appendixx

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study1

Statement of Problem5

Objectives of the Study6

Significance of the Study6

Research Questions7

Scope of Study8

Limitation of Study8

Operational Definition of Terms8

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE OF REVIEW

Concept of Emergency Contraception (EC) 9

Indications of Use of Emergency Contraception10

Methods or Types of Emergency Contraception             10

Contraindications to Emergency Contraception Use11

Barriers to More Widespread Use of EC12

Importance of EC                                    13

Theoretical Framework15

Empirical Review18

Summary of Literature Review22

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

Design26

Setting26

Target Population26

Sampling Technique27

Instrument for Data Collection28

Validity of Instrument 28

Reliability of Instrument method of Data Analysis28

Method of Data Collection28

Method of Data Analysis29

Ethical Consideration29

CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYSIS OF DATA30

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Discussion of Findings37

Implications for Nursing40

Summary41

Conclusion42

Recommendations43

Suggestions for Further Studies43

References 44

Questionnaire 47