Inner-city adolescents' awareness of emergency contraception

To assess the awareness of emergency contraception (EC) among inner-city adolescents attending a general primary health care clinic.

197 patients filled out an anonymous 28-item survey on sexual activity, experience with contraceptives, attitude toward pregnancy, experience with pregnancy, awareness of and intent to use EC.

71% of the sample was sexually experienced; 90% had been active within six months of the clinic visit. While 81% of the sexually experienced segment of the sample had ever used contraceptives, 53% reported having had sex at least once during the past six months without using contraception. Fifty-seven percent "worried" following unprotected intercourse about a potential pregnancy; 32% of the sample had been involved in a pregnancy. Only 30% of the sexually experienced had heard of EC, but more than 87% stated they would use it if the need arose in the future.

Urban adolescents are at high risk for unintended pregnancy due to inconsistent contraceptive use and/or method failure. Level of awareness of EC was low in our sample, particularly as compared to adult women in the United States, and to women of all ages (including teenagers) in European countries. Intent to use EC was high, however, indicating a strong desire to avoid unintended pregnancy. Attention should be focused on increasing both adolescent awareness of and access to EC.