Women's knowledge of and attitudes towards emergency contraception in Hong Kong: questionnaire survey

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To study the level of knowledge of and attitude towards emergency contraception in a group of women requesting the termination of pregnancy. DESIGN: Structured questionnaire survey. SETTING: Family Planning Association and university teaching hospital, Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred women who requested the termination of an unplanned pregnancy between May 1997 and March 1998. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic data, basic knowledge of contraception, reasons for terminating the pregnancy, and knowledge and usage of emergency contraception. RESULTS: A substantial proportion (33.0%) of women was ignorant of the existence of emergency contraception. Only 10.0% of women had used emergency contraception before and only 2.5% had used it in an attempt to prevent this pregnancy. Of the 134 women who knew about emergency contraception, the main reason (41.8%) for not using it was risk-taking behaviour. More nulliparous women (88.5% versus 57.6%; P<0.001) and women younger than 20 years (84.0% versus 61.3%; P<0.01) had heard of emergency contraception. Women who were educated beyond secondary school level (71.0% versus 37.5%; P<0.01) and unmarried women compared with married, cohabiting, or divorced women (87.1% versus 49.5%; P<0.001) were also more likely to have heard of emergency contraception. Women younger than 20 years were more likely to have used this form of birth control in the past (18.0% versus 7.3%; P<0.05). CONCLUSION: There is a need to improve women's education about emergency contraception in Hong Kong.