Effect of Emergency Contraceptive Pill Use on Condom Utilization Among University Students in Nekemte Town, Western Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) is a type of hormonal contraceptives which prevents unplanned pregnancy, but not sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Besides, its impact on condom utilization is not known among female university students in Nekemte town. Thus, this study was aimed to assess the awareness and attitude of university students on the use of ECP and its impact on condom utilization. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 female students in three private universities in Nekemte town from February 1 to 29, 2016. A simple random sampling, after proportional size allocation to respective study settings, was used to select student participants. Among the 400 randomly selected participants, 381 have completed and returned the questionnaire with 95.25% response rate. Data were collected by using self-administered questionnaire and entered into EpiData 3.1, and analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Bivariate and multivariate analysis were performed to determine the effects of ECP use on condom utilization with statistical significance set at P-value < 0.05. Results: Nearly half (48.8%) of the students indicated that they had sexual intercourse before and heard of ECP. Moreover, 30% of the respondents reported that they used ECP. Majority (61.7%) showed willingness to use ECP. Furthermore, students who used ECP were 3 times less likely to use condoms when compared to those who never used ECP (AOR = 0.322, 95% CI 0.164, 0.632). Alternatively, students who believed ECP does not prevent STIs were 2 times more likely to use condoms when compared to those who believed ECP does prevent STIs (AOR= 2.217 95% CI 1.070, 4.593). Conclusions: our findings identified that most students lack knowledge of ECP while having positive attitude on its use. On the other hand, ECP use imposes negative impact on condom utilization so that female students could be exposed to risky STIs.