The awareness and use of modern contraceptive methods among female undergraduate students in a tertiary institution in Northwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Young Nigerian women receive poor or no sex and contraceptive education and are increasingly being exposed to unplanned pregnancies with the attendant consequences of unsafe abortions. Few studies have been conducted among young women probably due to the low contraceptive use in the country and the belief that contraception is for married women. The study aimed to examine the awareness and use of modern contraceptives among undergraduate females in a tertiary institution in northwestern Nigeria.
Methods: It was a prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out among 329 female students of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from November, 2011 to January, 2012. Semi-structured pre-tested questionnaires were administered using the convenience sampling technique. Data was analysed using the SPSS version 16.0.
Results: The age range was 16-49 years, mean of 22.7 ± 4.8years. Most were Hausa (31.3%) and majority were Christians (56.6%). Seventy nine per cent were single and 77.5% lived on campus. Ninety-two percent were aware of contraception with the internet (62.3%) being their main source of information.  The contraceptive prevalence was 33.4%. The most known and used method was the male condom,  81.5% and 30.7% respectively. The main reason for the choice of contraceptive methods was non-contradiction to cultural beliefs (93.9%).
Conclusion: Contraceptive awareness is high; however rate of use is low. There is a need to further enlighten female students on the availability and use of contraceptive methods.

Keywords: Modern, Contraceptive, Undergraduate, Females, Northwestern Nigeria