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. 2019 Jan 17;19(1):12.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-019-0708-3.

Family planning among undergraduate university students: a CASE study of a public university in Ghana

Fred Yao Gbagbo  1 , Jacqueline Nkrumah  2
Affiliations

Family planning among undergraduate university students: a CASE study of a public university in Ghana

Fred Yao Gbagbo et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Globally, the rate of unplanned pregnancies among students at institutions of higher education, continue to increase annually despite the universal awareness and availability of contraceptives to the general population. This study examined family planning among undergraduate university students focusing on their knowledge, use and attitudes towards contraception in the University of Education Winneba.

Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey using a structured self-administered questionnaire. One hundred undergraduate students from the University of Education Winneba were selected using a multistage simple random sampling technique. A Likert scale was used to assess the attitude of the respondents towards family planning methods.

Results: Findings show that the respondents had a positive attitude towards family planning with an average mean score of about 4.0 using a contraceptive attitude Likert scale. Knowledge of contraception, awareness and benefits however do not commensurate contraceptive use among undergraduate students since availability, accessibility and preference influence usage. Emergency Contraception (Lydia) was reported as easy to get contraceptive, hence the most frequently used contraceptive (31%) among young female students aged 21-24 years who appeared as the most vulnerable in accessing and using contraceptives due to perceived social stigma.

Conclusion: The observation that levels of Family Planning awareness levels do not commensurate knowledge and usage levels calls for more innovative strategies for contraceptive promotion, and Education on the various university campus. The study recommends that public Universities in Ghana should consider a possible curriculum restructuring to incorporate family planning updates. In this regard, a nationwide mixed method study targeting other tertiary institutions including colleges of education in Ghana is required to explore the topic further to inform policy and programme decisions.

Keywords: Family planning; Ghana; Undergraduate students; University of Education; Winneba.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The research protocol was first presented at the Faculty of Science Education, University of Education, Winneba periodic academic seminars for review and approval for methodology and ethical suitability. This seminar, brings together senior members and research fellows of the University to review research protocols and papers meant for publication and conferences. Approval for data collection and publication were subsequently granted following the full incorporation of comments received from the seminar presentation.

Prior to data collection, verbal and written permissions were sought from the respondents to participate in the study. The permission was granted after the objectives and nature of the study were satisfactorily explained to the respondents.

Consent for publication

The respondents consented for the study to be published but assured of anonymity before administering the questionnaire. The respondents were also given the opportunity to ask questions about the study at any stage, and to withdraw from the study at any time.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests in this study.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

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Fig. 1
Attitude towards Family Planning
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