Determinants of contraceptive usage among female apprentices in Ilorin, Nigeria
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Date
2018-08
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Publisher
Sudan Medical Association
Abstract
Abstract Background: Maternal mortality is high in most developing countries and a significant number are from complications arising from induced unsafe abortion. The single, young and sexually active women are often more vulnerable, majority of the female apprentices fall within this group. Use of contraceptive among female apprentices in Ilorin, Nigeria was studied in this article. Methods: Five hundred and sixteen respondents participated in this survey through interview administered questionnaires. Results: The mean age of respondents was 22.34 ± 6.8years; of menarche was 13.28 ± 2.12 years and of first sexual exposure was 18.45 ± 3.9 years. The most common vocation was apprentice medicine/chemist vendor 124 (24%), followed by tailoring 114 (22%), 304 (59%) were single, 112 (21.7%) were married while 148 (28.7%) had primary education. Among the respondents, 79.5% and 64% were aware of condoms and combined oral contraceptive pills respectively. Only 48.3% had used at least one contraceptive method in the past. Most commonly used contraceptive was the male condom (42.9%). The least used was the combined pill (11.8%). Use of emergency pills was related to educational level (p = 0.027), used only by apprentices with formal education. Contraception as a contradiction to religious beliefs was the commonest reason for non-use followed by fear of future infertility as a complication of contraception. Conclusion: Religious beliefs and fear of complications were the major hindrances to contraceptive uptake despite the high level of awareness. Although the widespread use of male condom, which protects against sexually transmitted diseases, in this high risk group is acceptable and encouraging, attempts should still be focused on improving contraception uptake among apprentices.
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Keywords
Apprentices, Contraceptives, Usage