A cross-sectional evaluation of college students' access to contraception in North Carolina

Unintended pregnancies in college-aged women can negatively impact well-being as well as educational and economic attainment. Despite this, availability of contraception is inconsistent on college and university campuses.

The purpose of this study was to determine what barriers college students experience when accessing contraception.

College students at 2 public universities in North Carolina were invited to participate in an online survey via flyers, emails, and social media posts. The survey assessed participant demographics and experiences obtaining contraceptives. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize demographics and chi-square or Fisher exact test, Student t-tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests, as appropriate, were used to compare responses between the 2 universities.

One hundred and ninty-five college students responded to the survey. Three out of four respondents reported that they were prescribed contraception by a health care professional off campus, and 79% remained on their parents' insurance. Eighteen percent of respondents reported difficulty obtaining contraception in the previous year and 26% had gone without birth control in the previous year. Barriers to contraception access included difficulties getting refills from providers, inconvenient hours of community pharmacies, transportation, cost, and social stigma. One in ten students reported paying out of pocket for contraception to avoid parental judgment. The most frequently used contraceptive method was the combined hormonal contraceptive pill followed by condoms. There were no clinically significant differences in experiences obtaining birth control between the 2 institutions.

College-aged women experience challenges obtaining contraception, creating opportunities for birth control pharmacists to serve this population in states that authorize pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraception.