Peer-driven contraceptive choices and preferences for contraceptive methods among students of tertiary educational institutions in Enugu, Nigeria

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of the sample of students from tertiary educational institutions who were interviewed about their use of contraceptive methods in Enugu, Nigeria

Sociodemographic characteristic	Frequency, n (%)	Response rate for question
Age (n=287)		91.7%
11–20 years	60 (20.9)
21–30 years	215 (74.9)
31–40 years	10 (3.5)
41–50 years	2 (0.7)
Religion (n=312)		99.7%
Christianity	290 (93.0)
Islam	10 (3.2)
Traditional religion	6 (1.9)
Others	6 (1.9)
Christian denomination (n=290)		94.1%
Catholic	127 (42.8)
Anglican	66 (22.8)
Pentecostal	56 (19.3)
Others	24 (8.3)
Tribe (n=292)		94.9%
Igbo	246 (84.2)
Yoruba	26 (8.9)
Hausa	4 (1.4)
Others	16 (5.5)
Course of study (n=308)		98.4%
Health science related	173 (56.2)
Non-health science related	135 (43.8)
Level of study (n=312)		99.7%
First year	8 (2.6)
Second year	54 (17.3)
Third year	69 (22.1)
Fourth year and above	181 (58.0)

Table 2 Major sources of information on contraceptive methods and choices among students of tertiary educational institutions in Enugu, Nigeria

Student	Source of information	Number	Percentage
Females (n=94)
	Friends	80	85.0
	Sexual partners	61	65.0
	Health workers	40	38.0
	Media including internet	23	24.0
	Parents	22	23.3
	Workshop	7	7.5
Males (n=172)
	Friends	169	98.0
	Media including internet	69	40.0
	Health workers	55	32.0
	Workshops	3	2.0

Table 3 Types of contraception used by students

Student	Preferred contraceptive method	Number	Percentage
Females (n=94)
	Traditional methods	46	49.1
	Calendar-based methods	32	34.2
	Symptom-based methods	14	14.9
	Modern methods	26	27.7
	Emergency oral contraceptives	20	21.3
	Combined oral contraceptives	2	2.1
	Injectable contraceptives	2	2.1
	Female condom	2	2.1
	Nonpharmacological agents	9	9.6
	Alcohol (stout, spirits)	2	2.1
	Andrews liver salt	5	5.3
	Lime juice	1	1.0
	Herbal mixtures	1	1.0
	Off-label drug use	8	8.4
	White quinine	4	4.3
	Misoprostol	3	3.2
	Chloroquine	1	1.0
Males (n=172)
	Condom	77	44.8
	No condom	95	55.2

Table 4 Results of the bivariate analysis to determine the association between sociodemographic characteristics of a sample of undergraduate students in Enugu with preferences for modern contraceptive methods

Characteristic	Preference for modern contraceptive methods (n=266)		Chi-square	P-value
	Yes, n (%)	No, n (%)
Age			11.5	<0.01*
<20 years	28 (10.5)	18 (6.8)
≥20 years	75 (28.2)	145 (54.5)
Christian denomination			10.4	<0.01*
Roman Catholics	30 (11.3)	80 (30.1)
Non-Catholics	73 (27.4)	83 (31.2)
Course of study			47.9	<0.01*
Health science related	86 (32.3)	55 (20.7)
Non-health science related	27 (10.2)	108 (40.6)
Year of study			43.6	<0.01*
First and second years	42 (15.8)	12 (4.5)
Third and fourth years	61 (22.9)	151 (56.8)
Tribe			1.4	0.24
Igbo	85 (31.9)	143 (53.8)
Non-Igbo	18 (6.8)	20 (7.5)
Previous sexual exposure			27.8	<0.01*
Sexually exposed	52 (19.5)	32 (12.0)
Not sexually exposed	51 (19.2)	131 (49.2)
Source of contraceptive information			98.1	<0.01*
Friends	9 (3.4)	117 (43.9)
Media/health worker/workshop	94 (35.3)	46 (17.3)

Note:

* Significant at P<0.05.

Table 5 Results of the bivariate analysis to determine the association between sociodemographic characteristics of a sample of undergraduate students in Enugu with adherence to use of modern contraceptive methods

Characteristic	Adherence to modern contraceptive methods (n=103)		Chi-square value	P-value
	Yes, n (%)	No, n (%)
Age			3.4	0.06
<20 years	6 (5.8)	8 (7.8)
≥20 years	18 (17.5)	71 (68.9)
Religion			2.3	0.12
Christian	17 (16.5)	67 (65.0)
Non-Christian	7 (6.8)	12 (11.7)
Christian denomination			6.0	0.01*
Catholic	4 (3.9)	35 (33.9)
Non-Catholic	20 (19.4)	44 (42.7)
Tribe			0.2	0.6
Igbo	19 (18.4)	66 (64.1)
Non-Igbo	5 (4.9)	13 (12.6)
Course of study			10.5	<0.01*
Health science related	20 (19.4)	36 (34.9)
Non-health science related	4 (3.9)	43 (41.7)
Year of study			0.10	0.74
First and second year	5 (4.9)	19 (18.4)
Third and fourth year	19 (18.4)	60 (58.3)
Previous sexual exposure			18.2	<0.01*
Sexually exposed	24 (23.3)	41 (39.8)
Not sexually exposed	0 (0.0)	38 (36.9)
Source of contraceptive information			17.2	<0.01*
Friends	6 (5.8)	57 (55.3)
Media/health worker/workshop	18 (17.50)	22 (21.4)

Note:

* Significant at P<0.05.

Table 6 Results of the logistic regression to determine the factors that predicted adherence to modern contraceptives among students of tertiary educational institutions in Enugu, Nigeria

Factor	B	P-value	Odds ratio, exp (B)	95% confidence interval
Age group
≤20 years†
>20 years	−0.17	0.47	0.85	0.54–1.33
Christian denomination
Non-Catholic†
Catholic	0.21	0.13	1.24	0.94–1.63
Course of study
Non-health science related†
Health science related	1.26	0.01*	3.53	1.3–9.6
Year of study
First and second year†
Third and fourth year	0.87	0.11	2.38	0.82–6.90
Previous sexual exposure
No previous sexual exposure†
Previously sexually exposed	1.25	<0.01*	3.48	1.52–7.96
Source of contraceptive information
Friends/other informal sources†
Media/health worker/workshop	2.26	<0.01*	9.54	3.46–26.32

Notes:

† Reference variable.

* Significant at P<0.05.