Introduction:

The emergency contraceptive method, also known as post-coital contraception, is one of the alternatives that can be used to avoid an unwanted pregnancy up to 72 hours after a woman has had unprotected sexual intercourse.

Objective:

To establish the level of awareness and practice of emergency contraceptive methods among university students.

Materials and methods:

An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study. The sample included 15- to 25-year-old students of a Higher Education Institution from the Municipality of Pereira- Colombia, with an active sexual life. The study included sociodemographic variables with respect to awareness and practice of contraceptive methods.

Results:

127 students were surveyed, where the median age for female students was 19 years (IQR of 3), whereas male students showed a median age of 21 years old (IQR of 5). The condom was the most commonly used contraceptive method, used by 35.4% of the students, followed by contraceptive pills, which was used by 26.8% of students.

Conclusions:

The birth control method of choice was condom and although there is a high prevalence of consumption of emergency contraceptive methods, students show little awareness of their use.

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