KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF CONTRACEPTION AMONG FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES IN THE FACULTY OF BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCE, ABIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UTURU, ABIA STATE

The study was carried out to access the knowledge and use of contraceptives among female undergraduates in the faculty of basic medical sciences, Abia State University Uturu, Abia State. The specific objectives of the study were to assess the level of contraceptive knowledge among female undergraduate students, to find out the source of knowledge among female undergraduate, to assess the level of undergraduates’ accessibility to contraceptives in the Faculty of Basic Medical Science, ABSU. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design, and simple random sampling technique was used to select 500 students. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire comprising of three sections. Findings from the study showed that 398(78.8%) have knowledge of contraceptives. The sources of knowledge were from friends 274 (54.8%), health professionals 243(48.6%), books and magazines 269(53.8%).The types of contraceptives used include oral pills 48(9.6%), condom 303 (60.6%), withdrawal 51 (10.2%), safe period 68(13.6%), injectable 27 (5.4%) and IUD 03 (0.6%). In conclusion the respondents showed a good knowledge and use of contraceptives among female undergraduates in the faculty of basic medical sciences, Abia State University Uturu, Abia State. It was therefore recommended that programs promoting safer sexual behavior should be encouraged among students and it should be integrated with other behavioral change intervention. Keywords: knowledge, use, contraceptives, females, undergraduates.