Awareness, knowledge and contraceptive use among female students in University of Ilorin, Nigeria.

Background: The success or failure of public health interventions and advocacies depend largely on the effectiveness of the methods used. Awareness and knowledge are two words that are often used interchangeably in the assessment of contraceptive usage as well as attitude and practice. This study sought to know if the difference between knowledge and awareness does affect usage of contraceptives with the intention of recommending the best option for an improved usage.Methods. A cross sectional study design involving 151 female students of the University of Ilorin was conducted. Trained questionnaire administrators administered the structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was coded and analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23, IBM Version. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Comparison of proportions at the bi-variate level was done using Chi-square test while stepwise model of binary logistic regression analysis was done at the multivariate level. Data obtained was also analyzed with EPI info 6.0 and Stata version 5.0 applying t-test, Chi Square and Fisher's exact test statistics. Selection of variables to be imputed into the model was carried out if they were significant at the bi-variate level. Adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were obtained to identify factors that were significantly predicting the use of contraception among respondents. The level of statistical significance was set at p 0.75) with use of contraception despite its high level (91.4%) while knowledge had statistically significant correlation (p=0.005). This was higher among those with good knowledge (68.1%) as compared to those with poor knowledge (43.3%). Islam was significantly associated with use of contraception compared to Christianity (p=0.044). At multivariate level, only good knowledge of contraception remained a significant predictor of use of contraception. Students with good knowledge were three times more likely to use contraception as compared to those with poor knowledge (OR=2.411).Conclusion. Awareness was not found to be significantly associated with contraceptive usage as compared to knowledge. Researchers and public health practitioners need to take full advantage of this finding when promoting health care interventions such as family planning by focusing on educating the students rather than awareness promotion alone.