Prevalence and determinants of uptake of emergency contraceptive pills among the youth in Kikambala, Kilifi county

Abstract

In Kenya maternal mortality rate is very high. T he Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (2008 - 2009) reported a maternal mortality ratio of 488 per 100,000 live births. The use of contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies and unsafe aborti on is an important strategy to minimize maternal mortality ratio. Among various forms of contraception, emergency contraceptives are the only ones that can be used within 120 hours after unprotected sexual intercourse t o prevent unintended pregnancy. The a im of this study was to identify the determinants and prevalence rate of uptake emergency contraceptive pills among female youth in Kikambala divi sion, Kilifi County, Kenya. To achieve the above goal , a cross - sectional survey was carried out and data on th e socio - demographic characteristics of the respondents, sexual and reproductive health behaviour, the knowledge and uptake of emergency contraceptive pills was obtained. A sample of 402 female youth aged between 15 and 29 years living within Kikambala divi sion were randomly selected. Data was collected using questionnaires and analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS version 22. Chi - square test of significance was used to establish the association between the outcome variable and the predictor variable s. The average age of the female youth was 22.3 years with a standard deviation of 4.09. Slightly above a half 55.7% of the respondents were married. The level of education was low with only 17.6% of the respondents with secondary and tertiary education le vels . Almost a half of the study population 45% had no occupation. Nearly all the respondents 87.1% reported to be in a sexual relationship . The prevalence of use of emergency contraceptive pills was 13.4% and only 34.3% of the study population had knowled ge on emergency contraception. Determinants of usage of ECPs were ag e, educational level , history of induced abortion , alcohol use and the level of knowle dge on emergency contraceptives . There is need for increased awareness on emergency contraception so a s to increase the uptake of the pills. This will be instrumental in reducing the occurrence of unintended pregnancies and consequences of abortion. The Ministry of Health in partnership with other stakeholders should enhance the school health policy so tha t the pupils/students, both boys and girls, are properly guided on sexual and reproductive health issues which they may encounter as they grow up