Awareness and utilization of contraceptives among female students in Eldoret National Polytechnic in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya, a cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Good knowledge of contraceptives is a key component for contraceptive utilization by young women. There have been increased incidences of unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions in tertiary institutions. This study sought to assess the knowledge and pattern of utilization of contraceptives among female students in Eldoret National Polytechnic, Kenya (ENP).

Objective: One of the specific objectives of the study was to assess Contraceptive literacy among female students of ENP in Kenya.

Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional one in form of self-administered closed ended and open-ended questionnaires. Study population was only female students of ENP, aged between 18 and 35 years. Stratified random sampling was applied to the selected sample of 360 from the study population of 5879.

Results: Majority of the respondents affirmed the knowledge on contraceptive method for pills (88.0%) injections (83.4%) male condoms (82.2%), and e-pills (88.0 %) while affirming the use of alternate methods such as withdrawal (62.3%) and abstinence (77.3%). Regarding the sources of the family (FP) services, most respondents scored highly on the sources of the contraceptives with injectables, male condoms, E-pill and oral contraceptive pills at 82.8%, 80.7%, 80.4% and 73.6% respectively.

Conclusion: Most participants reported good knowledge and source for short term family planning (FP) methods while long term reversible contraceptive methods are least understood. Majority of students get contraceptive information from social media and peers.

Recommendation: This study recommended robust reproductive health education in tertiary institutions to ensure correct and timely dissemination of information on sexuality and contraceptives use.