Emergency contraception: Knowledge and attitude toward its use among medical students of a medical college in North-West India

CONTEXT: Emergency contraception (EC) is use of drug or device to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse. Unlike other regular methods of contraception which are taken prior to the sexual act, EC is used after the unprotected sex. AIM: To assess the knowledge and attitude toward use of emergency contraceptives among medical students. SETTING AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional questionnaire based study was conducted among all the medical students in the Government Medical College in North-West India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A questionnaire seeking information on knowledge and attitude of undergraduate medical students was administered over a period of 4 weeks in the month of February and March 2014. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data were entered in MS excel and expressed using percentages. Chi-square test was used as a test of statistical significance. RESULTS: About 61.6% (247/401) of the participants were aware about the timing of use of EC. Audio visual media (76.6%; 307/401) was the most common source of information for of these medical students. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of appropriate in-depth knowledge of EC among future health care professional should alarm the medical teaching system as EC is the only method that can be used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or contraceptive accident.