Emergency contraception considerations and use among college women

Emergency contraception (EC) has been available behind the counter without a prescription since 2006. Evidence has shown increased use of EC among young women, but no recent findings have been published to date of current use.

This cross-sectional study surveyed 482 college heterosexually active college women attending a large public university who either visited the college-based health clinic or were enrolled in selected undergraduate classes. Prediction models were created for each outcome, EC consideration and use, using Poisson regression with robust variance estimates.

Just over 58% of college women sampled reported ever considering EC, and just under 47% reported actual use. Consideration and actual EC use were highest for students who were nonwhite and who reported more sexual partners. Although female students who did not use condoms were more likely to use EC, there was no difference in EC relative to hormonal contraception use.

As EC becomes both better known and more readily available, use is expected to grow. Moving forward, greater attention is needed to the efficacy of EC use on preventing unwanted pregnancies.