Survey on the situation of customers buying emergency contraceptives at retailed pharmacies in Shanghai

Objective To learn about the traits of the population using emergency contraception (EC),and to investigate the customers'needs and the possible failure roots of emergency contraception.Method An anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire survey has been conducted to the customers at 100 chain stores of Shanghai Huashi Pharmacy,where have bigger pies of the sales for ECPs in shanghai.Results 6160 ECPs customers,out of 54 087,made responses to the survey,among those 19.56% are male and 79.20% are female.They are in ages of(26±5)years old on average.40.45% are unmarried and 59.55% married.Educational levels are distributed to 58.80% college above,29.90% senior high school and 9.30% junior high school below.The reasons for using EC fall into that 53.85% did not take contraceptive measures,36.40% failed cenception,and the rest of 9.76% made no response. Condom surge,rupture and misuse top the conception failure causes(36.88%),and the absence of taking compounded oral contraceptives goes secondly(20.05%).When asked what would be their contraception choices in the future,the customers still gave their preference to condom(37.53%),oral contraceptive pills secondly(32.91%).Conclusions Most of the ECPs customers take no measures for contraception or take but of no consistence.They are not initiated to consult pharmacists when they buy ECPs.So it is essential not only to inform them on the indications,counter-indications and notice of ECPs,but also to use conventional contraception after EC.