Frontiers 2023; 3(3): 36-45 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/frontiers doi: 10.11648/j.frontiers.20230303.12 ISSN: 2994-7197 (Online) Factors Influencing the Uptake of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives Among Female Undergraduate Students at the University of Zimbabwe Thembelihle Mpofu 1 , Maxwell Mhlanga 2 , Jay Jay John Karumazondo 3 1 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe 2 Center of Gender Equity, University of Global Health Equity, Kigali, Rwanda 3 Department of Demography Settlement and Development, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe Email address: To cite this article: Thembelihle Mpofu, Maxwell Mhlanga, Jay Jay John Karumazondo. (2023). Factors Influencing the Uptake of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives Among Female Undergraduate Students at the University of Zimbabwe. Frontiers, 3(3), 36-45. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.frontiers.20230303.12 Received: November 6, 2023; Accepted: December 13, 2023; Published: December 26, 2023 Abstract: Background: Unwanted pregnancies among university students are a worldwide problem, despite the availability of a wide range of contraceptive methods. These unwanted pregnancies in turn result in depression, suicide and unsafe abortions. Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) offer a great opportunity to reduce unwanted pregnancies, which often result in unsafe abortions, early and forced marriages. However, uptake of LARCs remains very low among adolescent women in tertiary institutions in Zimbabwe. This study sought to determine the factors influencing the uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives among female students at University of Zimbabwe. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was used in this study. Data was collected from randomly selected 120 female students who were sexually active using an online questionnaire. The data was then analysed using descriptive statistics and a chi-square test of association was used to check for association between study variables. Results: Of the 120 female students who participated, 99 (82,5%) were aged between 22- 25 years, 12 (10%) between 18-21 years and 9 (7.5%) between 26-30 years. Results from the study showed a statistically significant association between year of study and knowledge of contraceptive method (p=0.003). A statistically significant association was also observed between year of study and knowledge of implants (p=0.004). Age was also found to have a statistically significant association with depo provera use (p=0.004) and implants use (p<0.001). Conclusion: The study revealed a low uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives among the female undergraduate students at the University of Zimbabwe. Keywords: Young Women, Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives, Uptake 1. Introduction Despite the availability of long-acting reversible contraceptives, the world continues to suffer from unwanted pregnancies among university students. These unwanted pregnancies then result in maternal mortality due to unsafe abortions, suicide and depression. According to a global study that was done in 2014, an estimate of 40% of pregnancies were unwanted and 50% of these resulted in abortion, 13% in miscarriage, and 38% in unintended birth [1]. Unwanted pregnancies can have negative impacts on the physical and mental health of the mothers as well as their family [2]. According to a study that was done in Asian countries, the most severe effects of unwanted pregnancy included unsafe abortion, maternal death, starvation, mental illness, and vertical HIV transmission to children. These had detrimental effects on women's quality of life, raised the financial burden on families, and made women more stressed out, which increased maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality [3]. LARCs have been the recent innovation to address the problem of unintended and unwanted pregnancies in a bid to