Swedish teenagers' attitudes toward the emergency contraceptive pill

Purpose: To explore knowledge, attitudes toward, and experience with, the e mergency contraceptive pill (ECP) among teenagers in Sweden. Methods: A questionnaire with 23 questions concerning the students' demogra phics, knowledge of, attitudes toward, and experience of the ECP was delive red to a random sample of 20 classes in senior high school in two medium-si zed cities in Sweden. The participation rate was 100% (n = 408). Difference s in responses between teenagers in the two cities, boys and girls, theoret ical and practical classes, or native Swedish and immigrant teenagers were calculated with the Chi-square test. Results: The mean age was 16.5 years. Almost half (45.4%) of the teenagers had had sexual intercourse and of those, 28.3% stated that they themselves or their partner had used ECP. Four of five teenagers knew about ECP and wh ere to obtain it if necessary. Many teenagers (67.3%) also knew that ECP pr evented implantation. The main sources of information about ECP were youth clinics (n = 179) and friends (n = 159). The attitude toward using ECP in a n emergency situation was positive, but the teenagers, especially girls, we re restrictive as to whether ECP should be available without a prescription . The girls believed ECP could be used much more, and two-thirds of both se xes thought it could lead to negligence with ongoing contraception. Seventy -seven percent of teenagers preferred turning to a youth clinic when in nee d of ECP. One in four believed that concerns for side effects could deter t hem from using ECP. Conclusions: Based on the results in the present study, the importance of c ounseling in this situation is confirmed. The awareness about ECP was good, but teenagers also expressed concerns about side effects. The girls were m ore hesitant than the boys about having ECF available over the counter. (C) Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2001.