Emergency contraception: Awareness,attitudes and barriers of Saudi Arabian women

Objectives: to assess knowledge,attitude,and barriers about emergency contraception (ec) among married women of child bearing age. methods: a quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted over a 6-month period,commencing in march 2013 at family practice clinics of king khalid university hospital (kkuh),riyadh,saudi arabia. data was collected using a structured pretested questionnaire and analyzed using spss version 21.0 statistical software. result: a total of 242 women were enrolled in the study. only 6.2% (15/242) had some knowledge of ec and of these only two had ever used it. health care professionals were the least reported source of ec information (6.6%,n=1). majority (73.3%) had negative attitude toward ec being available over-thecounter without a prescription. the most common barriers to using ec were concerns about possible health effects. only two women (13.3%) considered religious belief as a major hindrance to its use. conclusion: awareness of emergency contraception is very low among women of saudi arabia. health care professionals were the least reported source of information,which is a cause for concern. our findings reveal an urgent need to educate women about ec,keeping in view the social norms and the islamic values. © 2015,professional medical publications. all rights reserved.