OBJECTIVE. To study the level of knowledge of and attitude towards emergency contraception in a group of women requesting the termination of pregnancy.

DESIGN. Structured questionnaire survey.

SETTING. Family Planning Association and university teaching hospital, Hong Kong.

PARTICIPANTS. Two hundred women who requested the termination of an unplanned pregnancy between May 1997 and March 1998.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. Demographic data, basic knowledge of contraception, reasons for terminating the pregnancy, and knowledge and usage of emergency contraception.

RESULTS. A sustantial proportion (33.0%) of women was ignorant of the existence of emergency contraception. Only 10.0% of women had used emergency contraception before and only 2.5% had used it in an attempt to prevent this pregnancy. Of the 134 women who knew about emergency contraception, the main reason (41.8%) for not using it was risk-taking behaviour. More nulliparous women (88.5% versus 57.6%; P<0.001) and women younger than 20 years (84.0% versus 61.3%; P<0.01) had heard of emergency contraception. Women who were educated beyond secondary school level (71.0% versus 37.5%; P<0.01) and unmarried women compared with married, cohabiting, or divorced women (87.1% versus 49.5%; P<0.001) were also more likely to have heard of emergency contraception. Women younger than 20 years were more likely to have used this form of birth control in the past (18.0% versus 7.3%; P<0.05)

CONCLUSION. There is a need to improve women's education about emergency contraception in Hong Kong.

Key words: Contraception; Contraceptives, postcoital; Knowledge, attitudes, practice; Pregnancy, unwanted; Sex behavior

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