Thursday, March 15, 2012
Poster Area 2 (Foyer Outside Exhibit Hall C) (Convention Center)
This study assessed university students' contraceptive choices related to: cost, age, relationship status, knowledge of and attitude toward options, availability, intended use, side-effects, prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and media influence. The Health Belief Model was applied to determine how contraceptive choice was affected by perceived benefits of contraceptive use and perceived susceptibility to unintended pregnancy and STIs. A stratified random sample of female students 18-25 completed an electronic survey on variables affecting contraceptive choices. Descriptive statistics and linear correlations were generated with SPSS software. Of 243 respondents, most (48%) preferred oral contraceptives, followed by condoms (19%) and vaginal rings (12%). Most (56%) reported currently using oral contraceptives. Over half (52%) knew how the most effective options functioned and nearly all (97%) could correctly describe use of oral contraceptives. A majority (97%) obtained information from medical professionals. Most (64%) always used their current methods correctly and 26% used current method correctly most of the time. Perceived susceptibility to negative consequences related to greater likelihood of correct method use. Results indicated that using one's method of choice increased likelihood of correct method use, and engaging in vaginal intercourse also increased likelihood of correct method use.