December 2016 · Volume 5 · Issue 12 Page 4248 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Ahmed M et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Dec;5(12):4248-4255 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Original Research Article Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding emergency contraceptive pills among female health workers of a tertiary care hospital in Karachi Mubashir Ahmed 1 *, Farah Naz 2 , Khalid Iqbal 3 , Ashraf Memon 4 INTRODUCTION Unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion is a major public health problem in developing countries. It has been estimated that use of emergency contraception (EC) may significantly reduce the number of abortion-related morbidity and mortality. 1 The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 84 million unwanted pregnancies occur annually worldwide. 2 On average, 46 million abortions take place every year, out of which 20 million were performed under unsafe conditions. 2,3 As a consequence of unsafe abortion nearly 70,000 women die and 5 million suffer permanent or temporary disability every year. 2-4 Globally 13% of pregnancy-related maternal mortality occurs due to unsafe abortions and majority of these deaths occur in low-and-middle income countries. 5,6 In Pakistan unwanted pregnancy rate is 37 percent of all pregnancies or 29 per 1,000 women of reproductive aged 15-49 years. 7 Estimated 890,000 induced abortions occurs every year and abortion account for termination of one in seven pregnancies. 7 Attention 1 Department of Research, Kharadar General Hospital, Aga Khan Road, Kharadar, Karachi, Pakistan 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kharadar General Hospital, Aga Khan Road, Kharadar, Karachi, Pakistan 3 Chief Executive Officer, Kharadar General Hospital, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan 4 Department of Pathologist, Kharadar General Hospital, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Received: 27 July 2016 Accepted: 28 August 2016 *Correspondence: Dr. Mubashir Ahmed, E-mail: Mubashir.ahmed71@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Unsafe abortion is a major public health problem in low-and-middle income countries. Young and unmarried women constitute a high risk group for unsafe abortions. Use of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) may significantly reduce the abortion-related morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) about ECPs among female health workers of a tertiary care hospital in Karachi. Methods: In this hospital based cross-sectional study, 187 female health workers (nurses and midwives) were participated. A predesigned, 26-item questionnaire was used to collect participants’ responses regarding knowledge, attitude and practice of ECP. Descriptive analysis of data was done by using SPSS-version 16. Results: Total 187 female health workers (95 nurses and 92 midwives) were participated in the study. Mean age of study participants was 23.5±7.31. Mean knowledge score of the study participants was 3.7±2.18 (Out of score: 1-10). Majority participants 151 (80.7%) had inadequate knowledge (score ≤50%) about ECP. The mean attitude score of the study participants was 20.9±2.68 (Out of score: 8-32). Significant number 84 (45 %) of participants had negative (score ≤50%) attitudes towards ECPs. Conclusions: There was gap in knowledge and negative attitude towards ECP were identified among female health workers. There was a need to bridge the gap of knowledge on ECP and remove the misconception about the use and safety of ECP among female health workers. Keywords: Attitude, Emergency contraceptive pills, Female health workers, Knowledge, Practice DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20164322