ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGEAND PRACTICE OF ABORTION AMONG FEMALE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF LADOKE AKINTOLA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, OGBOMOSO

Background: Unintended pregnancies increase at alarming rate over the years. Death and associated complications related to termination of unintended pregnancy is of public health concern in the developing world. Objectives: To assess the knowledge and practice of abortion among female undergraduate students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. Methods: An institutional based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 414 female undergraduate students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso from March to July, 2014 using structured questionnaire. Multistage sampling technique with probabilities proportional to size was used. Data were analyzed by SPSS window version 16.0 software package. Results: Majority of the respondents (98.1%) knew that abortion is the termination of pregnancy while 84.1% were aware that abortion can be complicated. Majority 199 (54.5%) were sexually active. Fifty four (27.1%) of the sexually active respondents had ever been pregnant with 50 (92.6%) of such ending in induced abortion. Most of the respondents 233(63.8%) had a good knowledge of complications of abortion and mean knowledge score was 5.13±2.04 with a range of 0-9. Conclusion: There was high awareness of abortion and its complications, despite this abortion rate was enormous. There is an urgent need to educate undergraduates about safe sex and with emphasis on available contraceptive methods and correct use. Youth-friendly health facilities to encourage utilization and exposure to health information in University environment should be established.