Emergency contraception: change in knowledge of women attending for termination of pregnancy from 1984 to 1996

Objective. To compare the knowledge of emergency contraception in women attending hospital for termination of pregnancy ir? 1984 and 1996. Design. A questionnaire survey. Setting. Ninewells Hospital, Dundee. Subjects. Cohorts of 100 consecutive women undergoing termination of pregnancy in 1984 and 1996. Results. Over this 12 year period there has been a significant improvement in the knowledge of emergency contraception. Seventy three per cent had a goad knowledge of the postcoital pill in 1996 compared to 12 per cent in 1984 (p=less than or equal to 0.0001). There has been a significant rise in the use of condoms (60 per cent vs 32 per cent; p=less than or equal to 0.001) and the number of conceptions due to condom accidents (38 per cent vs eight per cent; p=less than or equal to 0.0001). Although most women in the 1996 cohort recognised a reason for contraceptive failure and had adequate knowledge of emergency contraception, only 17 per cent considered the possibility of pregnancy. Conclusion. Poor knowledge of postcoital contraception is no longer a major factor leading to the failure of women to obtain emergency contraception. Improved uptake in the use of emergency contraception is likely to result from a greater awareness of the possibility of condom failure and easier availability of the postcoital pill.