UTILIZATION OF CONTRACEPTIVES AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN MASINDE MULIRO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (MMUST)

Abstract

Contraceptives uptake among the youth has been a sensitive and controversial issue in the society that has resulted to various social problems that include unwanted pregnancies and sexual transmitted infections among others. This calls for intervention measures that will promote contraceptive use in order to reduce unwanted pregnancies, sexual transmitted diseases and slow down the spread of HIV/AIDS among university students. The main objective of this study was to determine the utilization of contraceptives among undergraduate students in MMUST. Specifically, the study sought to determine the extent of contraceptive utilization, establish the influence of social relation on contraceptive utilization and examine the effect of addictive behavior on uptake of contraceptives. Quantitative research method which is contextual in nature was used for the study. Stratified random sampling was used to identify 453 undergraduate students from MMUST who participated in the study. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentages were used to organize data and information for further analysis. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between the variables. The study revealed that contraceptive prevalence rate among the undergraduate students was 62.7% and majority (25.4%) of the users sought the services from government health facilities. The study also demonstrated that knowledge of contraceptive methods among the undergraduate students was 90% and condoms were the most preferred method (75.6%) followed by pills (15.1%). Electronic media was found to be the most popular (40.1%) source of contraceptive information. Age of respondents and the age at which the respondents left high school was found to have a significant influence on contraceptive utilization (OR=1.43: 95%CI=1.02-2.14, p<0.05 and OR=1.88: 95%CI=1.21-2.92, p<0.05 respectively). Also, there was significant association between male respondents who discussed sexuality with their fathers and peers (OR=1.56: 95%CI=1.05-2.35, p<0.05 and OR=0.47: 95%CI=0.29-0.78, p<0.05 respectively). Female respondents who discussed sexuality with their mothers, peers and partner were found to be significantly associated with contraceptive use (OR=0.54: 95%CI=0.31-0.95, p<0.05; OR=2.47: 95%CI=1.01-6.05, p<0.05 and OR=1.79: 95%CI=1.96-3.24, p<0.05 respectively).Alcohol consumption and clubbing were equally found to have a significant influence on contraceptive uptake (OR=0.33: 95%CI; 0.18-0.59, p<0.05 and OR=0.48 95%CI; 0.27-0.84, p<0.05 respectively). It was thus concluded that although contraceptive prevalence among the university student was relatively high there is need to increase the usage. The involvement of parents, peers, partners and the university community was critical in regard to contraceptive utilization. Expansion of the distribution channels and use of adequate information and networks that provide a fundamental link between contraceptive awareness can improve utilization. This study recommends inclusion of contraceptive component in the university curriculum as an intervention to increase the uptake of contraceptive uptake among the youth. Also, involvement of parents, peers, partners and the university should be enhanced in order to support the government effort in its attempt to address unwanted pregnancies and the spread of HIV/AIDs among the youth..