A survey of opinions on emergency contraception in young women in Southern Italy

ABSTRACT

Objective To assess opinions and attitudes towards the use of hormonal emergency contraception (HEC) in a sample of young women in Puglia, Italy.

Methods A self-administered standardised anonymous questionnaire was administered to female school-leavers who were attending a preparatory course at the University of Bari.

Results Seven hundred and fifty-four women, with an average age of 19.5 years, completed the questionnaire. Sixteen percent of respondents had used HEC and 3% had used it more than once. The reasons given for resorting to HEC were: rupture of the condom (57%), the lack of thought about the risk of an undesired pregnancy (25%), and the unavailability of contraceptives at the time of coitus (18%).

Conclusions The opinions expressed by the interviewees in our survey do not suggest that the use of HEC would increase the risks linked to sexual behaviour. In Italy, over-the-counter availability of HEC should be implemented in parallel with the improvement of sex education programmes aimed at the young.

KEYWORDS:

• Hormonal emergency contraception
• Sex education
• Sexual behaviour
• Women
• Contraception
• Italy

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. Neither the authors nor their institutions received any funding for this study.