Knowledge, attitude and provision of emergency contraception among health professionals in Borno state northern Nigeria

Purpose: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and provision of emergency contraception among health professional’s (physicians, pharmacist and nurse/midwives) in Borno State in northern Nigeria. Methods: A validated self administered questionnaires issued to randomly selected physicians, pharmacist and nurses/midwives. The questionnaire enquired about knowledge, attitudes and provision of emergency contraception. Results: Overall awareness about emergency contraception is 80.6% among the health professionals, but was lower among nurse/midwives (69.8%). The awareness of the various methods of emergency contraceptives was poor, with only 97 (49.5%) of the respondent aware of Estrogen as a method and only 10(5.1%) knows that Danazol can be use for emergency contraception. In 20 (10.2%) of the cases the respondent were not sure of the correct timing of EC. Only 71 (36.2%) of the respondents had ever provided EC before. Among the professional groups, physicians were more likely to approve the use while pharmacists were more likely to have provided EC before. Conclusion: Although the awareness of emergency contraception among health care providers in Borno State is high, its provision and the knowledge of the various methods are poor. There is the need of re-educating our health professionals on emergency contraception. Keywords: Emergency contraception, Health professionals, Knowledge, Attitude