Contraceptive patterns after use of emergency contraception among female undergraduate students in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: The aim of our study was to describe contraceptive patterns 30 days after use of emergency contraception (EC) among female undergraduate students in São Paulo, Brazil.

Methods: This study was part of a larger project conducted in 2015 among 1679 female students aged 18–24 enrolled at the University of São Paulo. Analysis was restricted to the 916 students who reported lifetime use of EC. Logistic regression models were used to examine factors related to the use of contraception within the 30 day period following the last use of EC, changes in contraceptive behaviour before and after EC use, and gaps in contraceptive use within 30 days after EC use.

Results: Most women (75.4%) used contraception after accessing EC; 92.9% who used contraception prior to EC exposure resumed use of contraception afterwards, compared with 40.7% who did not use contraception prior to EC exposure. Only 6.3% of women switched to a less effective contraceptive method after EC use. Few women (7.5%) reported post-EC gaps in contraception.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that EC may serve as a potential precursor to regular contraception among undergraduates in Brazil, with few women reporting contraceptive gaps after EC use. These patterns may contribute to reducing the risk of unintended pregnancy in this population.

摘要

目的：本研究的目的是介绍巴西圣保罗女大学生紧急避孕（EC）后30天的避孕方式。

方法：这项研究是2015年对圣保罗大学1679名18-24岁女生进行的一项大型统计数据的一部分。分析仅限于916名报告终生使用EC的学生。采用Logistic回归模型, 研究与最后一次使用EC后30天内避孕使用的相关因素, EC使用前后避孕行为的变化, EC使用后30天内避孕方法的差异。

结果：大多数女性（75.4%）在接受EC后采取避孕措施；在暴露于EC前使用避孕措施的92.9%的患者在暴露于EC后恢复使用避孕措施, 而在暴露于EC前未使用避孕措施的40.7%的患者恢复使用避孕措施。只有6.3%的女性在使用EC后改用效果较差的避孕方法。很少有女性（7.5%）报告EC后避孕方面的差异。

结论：本研究的结构表明, EC可能是巴西女大学生常规避孕的潜在先兆, 很少有女性报告在使用EC后出现避孕差异。这些方式可能有助于降低这一人群意外怀孕的风险。

Keywords:

• Contraception
• emergency contraception
• sexual and reproductive health
• sexual behaviour
• undergraduate students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico/CNPq [grant number 202219/2015-1]. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de NÕvel Superior–Brasil (CAPES) [grant number 001].