[Emergency contraception. Characteristics of the demand]

Define the profile of the women that ask for emergency contraception (EC).Design. Transversal descriptive investigation.

Familiar Planning Center of 4th Area of Instituto Madrileño de Salud. in Madrid. Participants. All the women that went in the year 2000 requiring EC (n=404). Measurements. Was carried out a survey with sociodemographic variables, related with the EC and with the sexual life.

The average age was of 23.9 years (age range 14 to 49) were inquired, 9.9 were under 18. They had an average of 6.7 intercourses per month, the first intercourse when they were 18 years old on average, and 4.9 years of sexual relationships. 90.9% stated to have a couple. 75% were graduated from high school or university, and 55.7% said they had never received information about contraceptives. For 19.5% this was not the first time they asked for EC. 6.5% had interrupted on purpose pregnancy and 36% of them had used EC before. The reasons to demand EC were: condom break (69.3%), held condom (16.9%) and intercourse without any protection (12%). 7% acknowledged other risky intercourses during the same period. 33.2% had been sent by a General Practitioner, 26.1% knew the center, 19% were sent by acquaintances and 16% from Emergency Services. EC was not prescribed in 12.2% of the cases because of minimum risk to pregnancy. The evaluation was made by a nurse (52.6%), by a doctor (34.4%) and by a gynecologist (13%).

There is a lack of information about contraceptive methods. Most of the patients are sent from other sanitary services.