Knowledge of Malaysian University Students on Methods of Contraception, Assessed Using a Validated Instrument (Knowledge on Methods of Contraception)
Abstract
Background: Sexually active woman or couple may not be aware of the different methods of contraception and this can lead to unplanned pregnancy with psychological and social effects, and with significant impact on a woman’s’ life. Objective: To develop and validate an instrument, Knowledge on Methods of Contraception (KMC) and to assess the knowledge of non-medical related university students on the methods of contraception. Method: The 25-item KMC (KMC-25) was initially administered to 130 non-medical related university students and retested after four weeks. Fifty pharmacy undergraduates were recruited for comparison. The validated KMC-25 was then completed by another 402 non-medical related university students. Result: Internal consistency of the KMC-25 was good with Cronbach’s alpha = 0.78. There was significant correlation between the test-retest total scores (p < 0.001) and no significant difference for all the items, indicating stable reliability. Flesch Reading Ease score was 49.3 which means that the KMC-25 could be easily understood by undergraduates. The KMC-25 scores between pharmacy and non-medical related students were significantly different with median (interquartile range, IQR) of 60 (50 – 68) and 26 (12 – 40), respectively (p < 0.001). Out of 402 respondents, only 34 (8.4%) scored 50% and above, and were considered to have adequate knowledge on methods of contraception. Knowledge on contraception was significantly related to various characteristics of the students. Conclusion: The present study showed that KMC-25 is a reliable and valid instrument to assess university students’ knowledge on methods of contraception. However, university students from non-medical related programs have poor knowledge and this warrants the implementation of educational programs.