The use of emergency contraception among female senior high students in the Ho municipality of the Volta Region, Ghana

Abstract

Background: Emergency contraception (EC) is one option for preventing unplanned pregnancy when it is available and properly used. Unsafe abortions are responsible for nearly one third of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa and about quarter of unsafe abortions are among teenagers.Methods: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study. Data was collected using a pretested questionnaire. 260 senior high students were selected using a systematic sampling method in the Volta Region, Ghana. Data were cleaned and entered into SPSS version 22 and analysed into descriptive statistics.Results: Respondents acquired awareness about EC from friends (36.9%), family members (5.6%) and the mass media (41.6%). The required time for EC to be taken were stated as immediately after sex (57.9%), 24 hours after sex (1.2%) and (30.6%) did not know. 28.4% of participants indicated they would not use EC in the future as their faith was against it, 18.0% believed EC is ineffective and 24.9% consider it dangerous to their health. Reasons for use of EC included condom slipped (35.7%), inability to be on daily pill (33.7%), forced unprotected sex (8.2%) and miscalculation of the safe menstrual period (22.4%). There was a significant relationship between age and history of use of EC (p=0.000, c2=8.128, n=260).Conclusions: Strengthening education in Senior High Schools on sexual and reproductive health, with special emphasis on emergency contraceptives as a pregnancy preventive procedure will remain imperative to reducing the canker of maternal mortality attributed to adolescent abortions while improving understanding of the appropriate use of EC.

Emergency contraceptive pills usage and its associated factors among female tertiary students in Ghana

“…In [15], the awareness in Ethiopia ranged from 10.10% to 93.50%. Our findings are consistent with the study [16] among female senior high students in the Volta Region of Ghana, which found that about 98.80% of them were aware of ECP. Similarly, the study [17] reported that approximately 96.15% of women of reproductive age in Kwadaso Municipality, Ghana, were aware of ECP.…”

“…However, their study noted that 56.30% of women in Eastern Tigray, Ethiopia, received information about ECP from health workers. Contrary, this contradicts the findings of [16], which reported that 41.60% of awareness about ECP among Ghanaian students came from mass media. In the study [18] in Nairobi, it was reported that family and friends were the primary sources of information about ECP.…”

“…In the study [18] in Nairobi, it was reported that family and friends were the primary sources of information about ECP. Interestingly, our study and that of [16] identified friends as the second most common source of ECP awareness.…”

“…Majority of the female students use EPS primarily for pregnancy prevention. Previous studies [16,18,20,21] have also noted that emergency contraceptives are primarily used for preventing unintended pregnancies.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on the Use of Emergency Contraceptives in Ghana: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

“…In a study to assess the awareness, use, and associated factors of ECs among women of reproductive age in northern Ghana, 63% of students in a university had heard of ECs and 37% had used it ( 25 ). Another study found that among female senior high school students in Ho municipality in the Volta Region of Ghana, knowledge of ECs was 98.8%, while 57.1% of students had a history of EC use ( 26 ). Furthermore, a study among young people aged 15–24 years in Accra, found that ECs were the second most popular modern contraceptive method among women, next to condoms ( 27 ).…”