BMJ 2002;325:1393 ( 14 December )

Primary care

Young women's accounts of factors influencing their use and non-use of emergency contraception: in-depth interview study

Caroline Free, NHS R&D national primary care training fellow, ^a Raymond M Lee, professor of social research methods, ^b Jane Ogden, reader in health psychology. ^a

^a Department of General Practice and Primary Care, Guy's, King's College, and St Thomas's School of Medicine, London SE11 6SP, ^b Department of Social and Political Science, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX

Correspondence to: C Free caroline.free{at}kcl.ac.uk

Objectives: To explore young women's accounts of their use and non-use of emergency contraception.
Design: Qualitative study using in-depth interviews.
Participants: 30 women aged 16-25; participants from socially deprived inner city areas were specifically included.
Setting: Community, service, and educational settings in England.
Results: Young women's accounts of their non-use of emergency contraception principally concerned evaluations of the risk conferred by different contraceptive behaviours, their evaluations of themselves in needing emergency contraception, and personal difficulties in asking for emergency contraception.
Conclusions: The attitudes and concerns of young women, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, may make them less able or willing than others to take advantage of recent increases in access to emergency contraception. Interventions that aim to increase the use of emergency contraception need to address the factors that influence young women's non-use of emergency contraception.

What is already known on this topic Limited knowledge of, or poor access to, emergency contraception, and concerns about side effects and moral issues may reduce the use of emergency contraception in women at risk Young people can be embarrassed about using contraception services Interventions to increase knowledge of and access to emergency contraception have had limited success among teenagers What this study adds Perceptions of low vulnerability to pregnancy, negative self evaluations about the need for such contraception, and concerns about what others think deter young women from using emergency contraception These women find it difficult to ask for emergency contraception The attitudes and concerns of young women, especially those from deprived inner city areas, may render them least willing and able to obtain emergency contraception

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© BMJ 2002
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