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A survey of opinions on emergency contraception in young women in Southern Italy

ABSTRACT Objective To assess opinions and attitudes towards the use of hormonal emergency contraception (HEC) in a sample of young women in Puglia, Italy. Methods A self-administered standardised anonymous questionnaire was administered to female school-leavers who were attending a preparatory course at the University of Bari. Results Seven hundred and fifty-four women, with an average age of 19.5 years, completed the questionnaire. Sixteen percent of respondents had used HEC and 3% had used it more than once. The reasons given for resorting to HEC were: rupture of the condom (57%), the lack of thought about the risk of an undesired pregnancy (25%), and the unavailability of contraceptives at the time of coitus (18%). Conclusions The opinions expressed by the interviewees in our survey do not suggest that the use of HEC would increase the risks linked to sexual behaviour. In Italy, over-the-counter availability of HEC should be implemented in parallel with the improvement of sex education programmes aimed at the young.