ABSTRACT
Objective: Unsafe abortions account for nearly one-third of maternal deaths among young people.Women
who have an induced abortion are usually literate and less than 30 years old; usually undergraduates
with unintended pregnancies. Many of these pregnancies could have been prevented by contraception.
The aim of this study was to determine the correlates of uptake of emergency contraception among university
students.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1328 sexually active, never married female university
students. Self-administered questionnaire was used to assess knowledge, perception and practice
of emergency contraception. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of emergency
contraception.
Results: Majority of the participants were aware of emergency contraception (72.6%), had good knowledge
(56.0%), and had the perception that it is effective (74.6%) and easy to use (72.4%). The main sources
of information about emergency contraception were friends (32.9%) and the media (20.0%). About 52.0%
of the participants had unprotected sex in the preceding six months, while 718 (54.1%) had ever used
emergency contraception. The main sources of the commodities were sexual partners (46.2%) and medicine
stores (35.4%). The uptake of emergency contraceptionwas predicted by being ?19 years (AOR = 3.193),
rural dwelling (AOR = 4.247), perceptions that it is effective (AOR = 2.229E11) and easy to use (AOR = 6.680E8).
Conclusion: Use of contraception among sexually active female Nigerian university students is predicted
by the perception about its effectiveness and ease of use. Sexual and reproductive health programmes
should focus on improving knowledge and addressing misconception in order to improve perception about
emergency contraception.