Knowledge and Use of Emergency contraception Among Married women in Snandaj in 2008

Unwanted pregnancy is one of the important problems in the world and developing countries; in particular Iran. The rate of unwanted pregnancy in Iran is about 25%. Among family planning methods emergency contraception (EC) is the only method that can be used after intercourse and can prevent unwanted pregnancy in 75% of cases. Considering the importance of women's knowledge and practice about this method, the present study was designed in order to determine the level of knowledge and the rate of using EC among married women referring to health-care centers of sanandaj in 2008. In this descriptive-analytical study, 400 married women between 15-49 years old referring to health care centers in sanandaj were selected through cluster sampling. The data were collected and recorded in a questionnaire with two parts for demographic characteristics and determination of the level of knowledge with rate of practice of EC. The data were introduced into SPSS software and analyzed by means of variance analysis and chi-square tests. The results showed low level of knowledge in 62.7% of subjects about indications, in 83.5% about method of using and 62.7% about side effects of EC. 61.7% of women had low general knowledge about EC. The level of general knowledge about EC had a significant relation with educational level, employment and history of using EC (P<0.05). 8.75% of the women had history of appropriate practice of EC. Considering the interest of most women to use this method, the rate of unwanted pregnancies and their complications can be reduced hopefully by increasing the quality of family planning consultations and proper education about using EC method. Key words: