Knowledge of emergency contraception among women aged 18 to 44 in California - 25/08/11
, Cynthia C Harper, PhD a, Julia J Bley, MPH a, John J Mikanda, MD, MPH b, Marta Induni, MA c, Elizabeth C Saviano, RN, MSN, JD d, Felicia H Stewart, MD a
Reprint requests: Diana Foster, PhD, Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy, University of California, San Francisco, 2356 Sutter St, Suite 200, UCSF Box 1744, San Francisco, CA 94143-1744Abstract |
Objective |
The State of California has taken several steps to make emergency contraceptives (ECs) available to women in the state. By using data from the 1999-2001 California Women's Health Survey, we estimated the knowledge of emergency contraception among adult women of reproductive age at risk of pregnancy (n=6209).
Study design |
This study is based on 3 years of data (1999-2001) from the California Women's Health Survey (CWHS), an annual population-based survey of more than 4000 randomly selected adult women (aged 18 years and older) in California. A total of 6198 women aged 18 to 44 responded to the 2 emergency contraception questions: “To the best of your knowledge, if a woman has unprotected sex is there anything she can do in the 3 days after intercourse that will prevent pregnancy?” and “What can she do?”
Results |
We find that 38% of California women were able to correctly identify emergency contraception. Most importantly, the women who are most likely to need emergency contraception—those who are at risk of an unintended pregnancy but not using any method of contraception—have among the lowest levels of knowledge (only 29% identified a method of ECs).
Conclusion |
Results show that family planning providers may be reaching their clients, but broader outreach to the public has not yet achieved sufficiently high information levels among women in greatest need of the method.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Keywords : Emergency contraception, Knowledge, Socioeconomic factors, Multivariate analysis, California
Plan
 | This research was supported in part by funds from the California Program on Access to Care (CPAC), California Policy Research Center, University of California, grant number 02GT15. The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of The Regents of the University of California, CPAC, its advisory board, or any state or county executive agency represented thereon. Data were provided by the California Women's Health Survey (CWHS) Group. The CWHS is coordinated by the California Department of Health Services in collaboration with the California Department of Mental Health, the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs; California Medical Review, Inc; the Department of Social Services; and the Public Health Institute. Funding for the survey was provided by the collaborators and by a grant from the California Wellness Foundation. Analyses, findings and conclusions described in this article are not necessarily endorsed by the CWHS Group. |
Vol 191 - N° 1
P. 150-156 - juillet 2004 Retour au numéro
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