Effect of Health Education Intervention Programs on Emergency Contraceptives Awareness among University Undergraduate Female Students in Jigawa State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64348/zije.202565Keywords:
Emergency contraceptives, health education, undergraduate female students, reproductive health, Jigawa State, Nigeria.Abstract
This study examined the effect of health education intervention programs on emergency contraceptives awareness among university undergraduate female students in Jigawa State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental research design was employed, involving a pre-test and post-test with control and experimental groups. A total of 60 female undergraduate students were selected from four universities in the state using a multi-stage sampling technique. The experimental group received a six-week health education intervention on emergency contraceptives, while the control group received no such intervention. Data were collected using a validated, researcher-designed questionnaire named ‘Effect Of Health Education Intervention Programme On Emergency Contraceptives Awareness Questionnaire (EHEIPECAQ)’ , with a reliability coefficient of 0.884 established through Cronbach’s Alpha. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, paired sample t-test, and independent sample t-test at a 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that the mean awareness score significantly increased from 1.79 (pre-test) to 3.93 (post-test) among the experimental group, with a mean difference of 2.14 (t = 13.30, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the independent t-test analysis showed a significant difference in post-intervention awareness between the experimental (M = 3.93) and control groups (M = 1.65), with a mean difference of 2.28 and a t-value of 14.88 (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that the health education intervention had a statistically significant positive effect on participants’ awareness of Emergency Contraceptives. The study concludes that targeted health education interventions can substantially improve awareness of emergency contraceptives among undergraduate female students. It recommends that university health educators implement regular reproductive health programs and that reproductive health education be integrated into student orientation and academic curricula to promote informed contraceptive use and reduce unintended pregnancies among young women.
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