Publication:

The use of emergency contraception among female senior high students in the Ho municipality of the Volta Region, Ghana

Background Emergency contraception (EC) is one option for preventing unplanned pregnancy when it is available and properly used. Unsafe abortions are responsible for nearly one third of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa and about quarter of unsafe abortions are among teenagers.

Methods A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study. Data was collected using a pretested questionnaire. 260 senior high students were selected using a systematic sampling method in the Volta Region, Ghana. Data were cleaned and entered into SPSS version 22 and analysed into descriptive statistics.

Results Respondents acquired awareness about EC from friends (36.9%), family members (5.6%) and the mass media (41.6%). The required time for EC to be taken were stated as immediately after sex (57.9%), 24 hours after sex (1.2%) and (30.6%) did not know. 28.4% of participants indicated they would not use EC in the future as their faith was against it, 18.0% believed EC is ineffective and 24.9% consider it dangerous to their health. Reasons for use of EC included condom slipped (35.7%), inability to be on daily pill (33.7%), forced unprotected sex (8.2%) and miscalculation of the safe menstrual period (22.4%). There was a significant relationship between age and history of use of EC (p=0.000, c2=8.128, n=260).

Conclusions Strengthening education in Senior High Schools on sexual and reproductive health, with special emphasis on emergency contraceptives as a pregnancy preventive procedure will remain imperative to reducing the canker of maternal mortality attributed to adolescent abortions while improving understanding of the appropriate use of EC.