Characteristics of women who sought emergency contraception at a university-based women's health clinic. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify unique characteristics for seeking emergency contraception (EC) among sexually active unmarried women who attended a university-based women's health clinic (WHC). STUDY DESIGN: Three hundred nine consecutive women who attended the women's health clinic for 3 months of the 2006 spring semester completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire. Fisher exact and Student t tests were used to assess bivariate associations, and step-wise regression was used to determine independent associations. RESULTS: Women who requested EC were more likely to have previously used EC (P < .001), to have had unprotected sex in the past 6 months (P < .001), to have experienced an unintended pregnancy in the past year (P = .009), and to perceive the need for EC use in the next 3 months (P < .001) but were less likely to use hormonal contraception or an intrauterine device (P < .001). CONCLUSION: Our findings support the need for increased education that would include the use of and access to effective primary contraceptive methods in conjunction with EC awareness.

published proceedings

  • Am J Obstet Gynecol

author list (cited authors)

  • Parrish, J. W., Katz, A. R., Grove, J. S., Maddock, J., & Myhre, S.

citation count

  • 9

complete list of authors

  • Parrish, Jared W||Katz, Alan R||Grove, John S||Maddock, Jay||Myhre, Sue

publication date

  • July 2009