Knowledge Attitude and Practice of Contraceptive Use Among Final Year Medical Undergraduates In The University Of Calabar, Cross River State

Abstract

Background 

Globally, the rate of risky sexual behaviors among young undergraduates remains a publi hhealth concern. A wide body of evidence underscores the negative consequences of poor sexual and reproductive health. Despite the proven benefits of contraception, the knowledge, attitude and use of contraceptives among healthcare workers who ought to be advocates have been inadequate. We set out to determine these variables among soon-to-be medical doctors in a Nigerian tertiary institution.

Methods/Subjects

We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study among 83 final-year medical undergraduates of the University of Calabar, Cross River State using an intervieweradministered questionnaire. Study participants were selected by simple random sampling by balloting and data was analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results were presented using descriptive statistics.

Results

Mean age of participants was 25.4±2.0. The results showed a predominance of good knowledge about contraception among the participants (73, 88%) irrespective of age, gender, marital status and religion. However, most of the participants (53, 63.9%) had poor attitude towards contraception. Concerning practice of contraception, there was a high prevalence (62.7%) of contraceptive use among our respondents as condoms were the predominant contraceptive method used with pharmacy stores being the common source of obtaining these contraceptives.

Conclusion

This research investigated the knowledge, attitude, and practice of final-year medical students on contraception. An important finding emerging from this study is that the majority of the participants had a poor attitude toward contraception despite having a good level of knowledge of contraception.