A Comparative Study of the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Emergency Contraception by Women of Reproductive Age Among Urban and Rural Dwellers in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: A cross-sectional study was carried out to compare the knowledge, attitudes and practices of emergency contraception (EC) by women of reproductive age in an urban and a rural community in Enugu State in May, 2005.
Materials and method: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 383 women who were selected by a multistage sampling technique.
Results: Awareness of emergency contraception (EC) was generally high in both communities but significantly higher in the urban community, P=0.0001. However, knowledge of definition, names and timing of its administration was poor in both communities but worse in the rural community (P < 0.05). There was positive attitude towards EC with regards to its increased advertisement in both communities. More people favored the wide availability of EC in the urban women, P=0.002. Nevertheless, the practice of EC in both communities is still low being 36.3% among the urban women and 3.9% in the rural group.
Conclusion/recommendation: The knowledge and practice of the women is poor and so there should be increased effort at creating awareness on the use of EC.


Keywords: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP), Emergency Contraception, Urban women, Rural women, Nigeria

Journal of College of Medicine Vol. 13 (2) 2008: pp. 78-84