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R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Open Access
Awareness, use and associated factors of
emergency contraceptive pills among women of
reproductive age (15-49 years) in Tamale, Ghana
Anthony Amalba
1
, Victor Mogre
1*
, Monica NA Appiah
2
and Winnifred A Mumuni
2
Abstract
Background: Emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) are one of the means by which women can use after intercourse
to prevent pregnancy. ECPs can be used to reduce the prevalence of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions. This
study investigated awareness and use of ECPs among reproductive age (15-49 years) women in Tamale, Ghana. Factors
associated with the use of ECPs were also investigated.
Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted among 200 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in Tamale,
Ghana. Data on socio-demographic variables, awareness and usage of ECPs were assessed by means of a previously
validated questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors
associated with the use of ECPs.
Results: Awareness level of ECPs were found to be 69.0% (n = 138); 42.8% (n = 59) got the awareness from a health
worker, 31.8% (n = 44) from the radio/TV and 25.4% (n = 35) from family members/friends. Eighty-five percent (n = 117)
knew the correct time-frame for an effective use of ECP to prevent pregnancy. Forty percent (39.9%, n = 55) of the
participants who had awareness have ever used ECPs. Factors that were found to be associated with the use of ECPs
were; participants who said ECPs were affordable (AOR = 6.1, 95% CI = 2.51 –10.40, p = 0.001), available (AOR 2.1, 95%
CI = 0.61 –6.01, p = 0.001), cultural (AOR = 3.5, 95% CI = 1.01 –10.15, p = 0.011) and religious unacceptable (AOR = 4.0,
95% CI = 1.02 –10.0, p = 0.005).
Conclusion: A relatively high level of awareness and usage of ECPs was found. Factors that were associated with the
use of ECPs were availability and affordability. Cultural and religious unacceptability did not hinder the use of ECPs.
Health authorities should continue to make ECPs available to women of reproductive age.
Keywords: Emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), Availability, Affordability, Cultural, Religious, Women of reproductive
age, Tamale, Ghana
Background
Emergency contraception (EC) is defined as any method
women can use after intercourse to prevent pregnancy
[1]. The differing methods of EC include the use of
intrauterine devices and hormone pills (referred to as
emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), such as the over-
the-counter hormonal method known as Plan B [2]. The
most commonly used EC method in developing coun-
tries including Ghana is the ECPs.
ECPs referred to as postcoital contraception are mostly
hormone-based regimens, including a combination of
ethinyl estradiol with levonorgestrel (Yuzpe regimen)
and levonorgestrel alone [3], Ulipristal acetate30 mg [4].
Just like any other EC method they are administered
after unprotected intercourse. In the past, ECPs were
considered to be effective only within 72 hours after inter-
course; however recent studies have indicated that they
are effective for up to 120 hours [5-7]. Their effectiveness
has been claimed to be between 75–80 percent [8].
Increasing the availability and promotion of EC has
the potential to reduce the incidence of unintended
pregnancies [9-11]. Uniquely, it is the only immediate
* Correspondence: vmogre@uds.edu.gh
1
Department of Human Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences,
University for Development Studies, P. O. Box TL 1883, Tamale, Ghana
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© 2014 Amalba et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain
Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article,
unless otherwise stated.
Amalba et al. BMC Women's Health 2014, 14:114
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6874/14/114
option left for a woman who has had unprotected inter-
course and is unprepared for a pregnancy [12].
Each year, about 210 million women around the world
become pregnant [6] from which about 75 million of these
pregnancies (36%) are unplanned and/or unwanted [13].
Unplanned/unwanted pregnancy is one of the leading
causes of maternal mortality and morbidity in developing
countries [6]. In the developing countries, the World
Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one woman
dies every eight minutes due to unsafe abortion [14,15].
In Ghana, ECPs have now become an integral part of
contraceptive services to prevent conception following
unprotected and unplanned exposure or contraceptive
accidents like burst condom, slippage of diaphragm and
forgotten pills. Also ECPs are used by victims of rape
cases. There has been very extensive campaign and dis-
semination of knowledge on contraceptives. Currently,
the knowledge of any contraceptive method is almost
universal in Ghana, with 98 percent of all women and 99
percent of all men knowing at least one method of
contraception [16]. However, while 47.4% of Ghanaian
women have a history of contraceptive use only 20% are
current users [16].
Since the introduction of ECPs in Ghana, limited studies
have been conducted to assess awareness and usage of
ECPs among women of reproductive age. The few studies
available were conducted among college students.
This study investigated the awareness and use of ECPs
among reproductive age (15–49) women in Tamale,
Ghana. Furthermore factors associated with the use of
ECPs were investigated.
Methods
Participants
This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to
July, 2012 among reproductive age women (15-49 years)
in Tamale, Ghana. Tamale is the capital city of the
Northern region of Ghana, located about 500-600 km
North of Accra, the Capital city of Ghana.
During the study, Tamale was clustered into three elect-
oral constituencies (Tamale central, north and south) from
which 200 participants were included in the study. Purpos-
ively, 115 women were approached in Tamale central, 100
consented to the study yielding a response rate of 87.0%.
From Tamale North and South, 53 and 55 women respect-
ively were approached, from which 50 women each from
North and south consented to the study (response rate of
94.3% and 90.0% respectively). The inclusion of partici-
pants was voluntary and informed consent was obtained
from each participant. Participants were also assured of
confidentiality of any data taken. All participants were
approached in their homes. The study was approved by the
Ethics Committee of the University for Development Stud-
ies, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghana.
Questionnaire
A previously validated [6,17], 10-item questionnaire was
developed to collect information on participants’know-
ledge and usage of ECPs as well as associated factors.
Data on socio-demographic variables such as gender, age
and educational status were obtained. Cultural and reli-
gious acceptability as well as availability and affordability
were assessed using yes/no questions that were included
in the questionnaire. For example, “does your religion
accept the use of ECPs? Yes or No?”Awareness was
assessed by the question; “have you ever heard of EC?
Yes or No”. Knowledge levels of participants were
assessed using questions relating to the appropriate time
to use ECPs. Format of the knowledge questions in-
cluded single statements yes or no questions and mul-
tiple choice questions. Participants were asked to choose
the best answer in response to the multiple choice ques-
tions. All questionnaires were anonymous and did not
have any identifiers. In order to ensure confidentiality all
the questionnaires were administered to the participants
by a female research assistant in a well secluded area,
free from any form of disruption.
Statistical analysis
All statistical analysis was conducted using GraphPad Prism
version 5 (GraphPad software, San Diego California USA,
http://www.graphpad.com/scientific-software/prism/) and
two-tailed pvalues. The results were expressed as propor-
tion and compared using Fisher’s exact test or χ
2
for trend
analysis as appropriate. Univariate logistic regression ana-
lysis was conducted to identify factors associated to the use
of ECPs. Significant independent variables from the univari-
ate analysis were included into a multivariate model and
analysed. A level of p < 0.05 was considered as statistically
significant. The educational status of the participants was
classified into either “low”or “high”educational status. Par-
ticipants who had primary and junior high level of educa-
tion were combined to form “low”educational status.
Those who had attained senior high level of education and
beyond were considered as “high”level of education.
Results
The general characteristics of the women are presented
in Table 1. Generally, 67.5% (n = 135) had attained a high
level of education, 84.5% (n = 169) were married, 44.0%
(n = 88) self-employed, 49% (n = 98) Muslims and 34.5%
(n = 69) had an income level below 200GHC ($ 77). The
cost of ECPs ranged from 5GHC to 20GHC ($1.5 to $6)
depending on the brand.
Awareness, knowledge and usage of emergency
contraceptive pills (ECP)
Presented in Table 2 are women’s’awareness, knowledge
and usage of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs). One
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hundred and thirty-eight women (69.0%) had awareness
on ECPs, from which 42.8% (n = 59) said they got the
awareness from a health worker, 31.8% (n = 44) from the
radio/TV and 25.4% (n = 35) from family members/
friends. About 85% (n = 117) of those who had aware-
ness on ECPs, knew the correct time-frame for an effect-
ive use of ECPs to prevent pregnancy recognizing the
need to take the first dose within 72 hours after having
unprotected sexual intercourse. As presented in Table 2,
50.0% (n = 69) of those aware of ECPs said they would
use ECP in case of breakage of a condom during sexual
intercourse;17.4% and 21.9% (78.8%) chose the options
that that ECPs can be used in case of rape and failure to
follow regular methods respectively.
Less than 13% (n = 17) said ECPs were not readily
available to them; however 92.0% said it was affordable.
With regards to cultural and religious acceptance, 63%
(n = 87) said ECPs were not culturally acceptable, how-
ever 44.9% (n = 62) said the usage of ECPs was accept-
able in their religion.
With regards to the usage of ECPs, 39.9% (n = 55) of
the women had ever used ECPs, and they used it to pre-
vent unsafe abortion (14.5%, n = 8), unwanted pregnancy
(80%, n = 44) and for child spacing (5.5%, n = 3).
Factors associated with the use of ECPs
Univariate logistic analysis was conducted to identify
factors associated with the use of ECPs and presented in
Table 3. Women who reported that ECPs were available
had 4.8 times the odds of using them as women who re-
ported they were not available. Other factors that were
found to be associated with the use of ECPs were
women who said ECPs were affordable (Crude OR = 7.0,
Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics of the women
Variable Frequency %
Age (years)
15-29 101 50.5
30-49 99 49.5
Educational status
Low 65 32.5%
High 135 67.5%
Marital status
Married 169 84.5
Not married 31 15.5
Occupational status
Unemployed 53 26.5
Self-employed 88 44.0
Civil servant 59 29.5
Religious status
Christianity 95 47.5
Moslem 98 49.0
Traditionalist 7 3.5
Monthly income
Below GHC 200 69 34.5
Between GHC 200-500 50 25.0
Above GHC 500 57 28.5
None 24 12.0
Table 2 Women’s awareness and knowledge levels and
factors affecting usage of ECPs
Variable Frequency %
Awareness on ECPs
Yes 138 69.0
No 62 31.0
Asked only among those reporting
awareness (n = 138)
Source of information
Health worker 59 42.8
Radio/TV 44 31.9
Family members/friends 35 25.4
*Time frame for use of ECPs
Used 72 hours before sex 12 8.7
Used 72 hours after unprotected sex 117 84.7
Taken when pregnant 5 3.6
Taken everyday 4 2.9
*When would you use ECPs?
After rape 24 17.4
When condom breaks 69 50.0
Forgot to take the pill 30 21.7
Undue pressure from partner 15 10.9
Availability of ECPs
Yes 121 87.7
Affordability of ECPs
Yes 127 92.0
Cultural acceptance of ECPs
Yes 51 37.0
Religious acceptance of ECPs
Yes 62 44.9
Personal usage of ECPs
Ever used 55 39.9
Asked only among those reporting
use of ECPs (n = 55)
Why did you use ECPs?
To prevent unsafe abortion 8 14.5
To prevent unwanted pregnancy 44 80.0
For birth spacing 3 5.5
*Women were asked to choose one answer or the best answer in response to
this question.
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95% CI = 2.96 –16.40, p = 0.001), culturally (Crude OR =
4.6, 95% CI = 1.63 –12.78, p = 0.003) and religious
unacceptable (Crude OR = 5.1, 95% CI = 1.97 –13.33,
p = 0.004).
Presented in Table 4 is the results of multivariate
analysis of factors affecting the use ECPs, adjusting for
age, marital status and socio-economic status. Availabil-
ity of ECPs, its affordability as well cultural and religious
unacceptability still remained significant predictors of
the use of ECPs.
Discussion
This study assessed the awareness, knowledge and use of
emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) as well as factors
associated with its use among reproductive age women
in Tamale, Ghana.
The awareness level of ECPs among the reproductive
women in this study was found to be 69.0%, which is
higher than the level reported among Egyptian women
(24.5%) aged 19-49 years [14], among women in California
(38.2%) aged 18-44 years [18] and 11.2% among
educated women in India [19] and among university
students in Ghana (43%) [20] and Cameroon (63%)
[21]. Our findings however are lower than those
reported among English reproductive women (90%)
[22-24] and University students in the USA (94%) [25]
and Jamaica (84%) [26].
In contrast to several studies [7,14,19,27,28], health
workers were the major source of information on ECP for
the study participants rather than radio/television and
other sources like family and friends. However, our find-
ings are in agreement with the results of Irfan and col-
leagues who found a large proportion of women saying
they knew about EC through a health care provider [29].
Another important finding of this study was that,
about 85% of the participants who had awareness on
ECPs were able to determine the correct time frame for
using ECPs. This is higher than the 38% reported among
reproductive age women in California [18], 14.9% re-
ported among female college students in India and 18%
in University students in Nigeria [30]. Several studies
have reported that many women who are aware of the
existence of ECPs do not have adequate knowledge on
the appropriate interval between unprotected inter-
course and taking the ECPs [31,32]. Probably, our find-
ings could be attributed to the fact that a large
proportion of the study participants had a high level of
Table 3 Univariate analysis of factors affecting the usage of EC among the women
Variable n/N* Rate of usage Crude OR (95% CI) P value
Marital status
Married 45/116 38.8% 0.8 (0.30 –1.91) 0.637
Not married 10/22 45.5% 1
Availability of ECPs
Yes 46/89 51.7% 4.8 (2.06 –10.95) 0.001
No 9/49 18.4% 1
Affordability of ECPs
Yes 43/91 47.3% 7.0 (2.96 –16.40) <0.001
No 12/47 25.5% 1
Cultural acceptance of ECPs
Yes 5/31 16.1%
No 50/107 46.7% 4.6 (1.63 –12.78) 0.003
Religious acceptance of ECPs
Yes 6/38 15.8% 1
No 49/100 49.0% 5.1 (1.97 –13.33) 0.004
Age (years)
15-29 31/70 44.3% 1.5 (0.73 –2.89) 0.301
30-49 24/68 35.3% 1
*Number of participants with usage/number of subjects in each category.
Table 4 Multivariate analysis of factors affecting the use
of ECPs among the women
Variable AOR (95% CI) P value
Intercept 0.008
ECPs are available 2.1 (0.61 –6.01) 0.001
ECPs are affordable 6.1 (2.51 –10.40) 0.001
Cultural unacceptability 3.5 (1.01 –10.15) 0.011
Religious unacceptability 4.0 (1.02 –10.05) 0.005
Cox and Snell = 0.13, Nagelkerke = 0.23.
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education. Also the participants indicated health workers
as their major source of information on ECPs, which
might have contributed to the high level of knowledge
on the correct time frame to use ECPs. These factors
have been shown to influence knowledge and awareness
levels of ECPs in several studies [18,19,31].
In agreement with several findings we found that par-
ticipants said they would use ECPs in cases of rape, un-
protected intercourse, and failed regular methods
[6,7,14]. This finding was also confirmed by the reasons
participants gave for using ECPs which included preven-
tion of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.
About 40% of the women who had awareness on ECPs
had ever used them. This is higher than the 24.5% re-
ported among Egyptian women aged 18-49 years [14].
The higher prevalence of ECP use in this study as com-
pared to others studies [18,19,31] could be due to the
fact that a large proportion of the women said ECPs
were available (92.0%) and affordable (87.7%). Further
confirming our findings, our univariate and multivariate
logistic regression analysis indicated that participants
who said ECPs were available and affordable were more
likely to use them as compared to those who said it was
not. This suggests that availability and affordability may
be significant determinants of the use of ECPs. To in-
crease the current usage prevalence and to consequently
realize the benefits of ECP in reducing unwanted pregnan-
cies and abortions, the health authorities should continue
to make ECPs available to reproductive age women.
Surprisingly, women who said the use of ECPs were
not acceptable in their culture and their religion was
significantly more likely to use ECPs compared to their
counterparts who said their culture and religion ac-
cepted it.
Most of the women interviewed in this study were
either Muslims or Christians. In both religions, sex is
generally considered for procreation. In Catholicism all
forms of abortion and emergency contraception are pro-
hibited [33] except for measures normally taken to save
a mother that result in the death of the foetus [34]. In
Islam abortion of a viable foetus is considered a serious
crime equivalent to that of murder [35]. However, the
prevailing view in Islam is that emergency contraception
and abortion are permissible in certain situations [36].
Depending on the Islamic school and length of gestation
of the foetus, religious opinion varies from unconditional
permissibility to unconditional prohibition [37]. The
values that an individual woman holds may not be in
keeping with the documented official teachings of her
religion or the expected cultural norms reported by
other members of the same culture [38]. Through edu-
cation and interaction with health workers, women have
realized the need to live a quality life and also take good
care of their children. This might have contributed to
the high use of ECPs despite reporting religious and
culturally unacceptability.
The use of ECPs by women against religious and
cultural unacceptability could also be due to the notion
that using ECPs is less unacceptable in comparison with
other methods of terminating unwanted pregnancies
such as abortion, which could easily be stigmatized.
It is worth noting the limitations of this study. Due to
the nature of the cross-sectional design, cause and effect
could not be investigated. Also the study participants
comprised of reproductive age women in Tamale, which
is an urban town. Hence it’s difficult to generalize the
findings of this study to women from the rural commu-
nities of Ghana. However, this study is explorative in
nature to evaluate the awareness and use of EC among
women and forms as a basis for future elaborative
studies.
Conclusion
A relatively high awareness level and use of ECPs has
been found. Factors found to be associated with the use
of ECPs were availability and affordability. Religious and
cultural unacceptability did not hinder the use of ECPs.
Health authorities should continue to make ECPs avail-
able to reproductive age women.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’contributions
AA: Analysis and Interpretation of the data. VM: Drafting of the manuscript
and critical revision of the manuscript. MNAA: Concept and Design. WAM:
Data Acquisition. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgements
Authors wish to thank Dr. Nafiu Amidu, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of
Medical and Biomedical Sciences, for his guidance and support during the
manuscript write up.
Author details
1
Department of Human Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences,
University for Development Studies, P. O. Box TL 1883, Tamale, Ghana.
2
Department of Allied Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Health
Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Received: 6 May 2014 Accepted: 18 September 2014
Published: 22 September 2014
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doi:10.1186/1472-6874-14-114
Cite this article as: Amalba et al.:Awareness, use and associated factors
of emergency contraceptive pills among women of reproductive age
(15-49 years) in Tamale, Ghana. BMC Women's Health 2014 14:114.
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