Knowledge and Attitude of Married Women in the Reproductive Age Group Regarding Emergency Contraception in Selected Rural Areas of Udupi District.

摘要

Background: Unwanted pregnancy is still a majorproblem in the modern world despite the widelyavailable contraception services. This study wasconducted to determine the knowledge and attitude ofmarried women in the reproductive age group regardingemergency contraception in selected rural areas ofUdupi district, India. Material and Methods: The studygroup comprised of 350 married women in thereproductive age group residing in rural areas of Udupidistrict, India. A structured questionnaire and an attitudescale were used to assess the knowledge and theattitude. Results: Majority, 69.1% of the married womenbelonged to Hindu religion, 46.9% had an educationalqualification of 10th standard and below. About 13.1%of the married women had undergone abortion. Nearly96.9% of the married women had heard aboutemergency contraceptives and only 2% of the marriedwomen had used emergency contraceptive pills. About63.7% out of 339 married women had got informationabout emergency contraceptive pills from healthpersonnel and about 77.7% from television. Majority84% had poor knowledge on emergency contraception.About 99.7% had favourable attitude on the use ofemergency contraceptives. There was a significantassociation between knowledge scores and selectedvariable like education, knowledge and the attitudescores had a correlation. Conclusion: The studyidentifies the knowledge and attitude of the rural marriedwomen regarding emergency contraception, hence tohelp them to plan future pregnancies and prevent anyunwanted or unintended pregnancies.