Health professional's knowledge and attitudes towards emergency contraceptives [E. C.] in Alexandria

A random sample of 150 doctors and nurses working in different organizations representing Alexandria zones and providing FP services was recruited for this study. Two tools were used to collect data: A structured questionnaire to elicit the characteristics and knowledge of the respondents and a three-point Likert scale to predict their attitudes towards EC. A knowledge scoring system was developed and the participants were accordingly classified as having a good, average or poor score. The rating scale for assessing the attitude included positive, indifferent and negative attitude according to the adopted scale system. The results revealed a general lack of knowledge. The respondents differed in their attitude towards EC. However, a positive attitude was associated significantly with a good knowledge score. Good knowledge score and positive attitude were significantly related to qualifications, years of experience, training and place of work. On the other hand, no significant relation was found between training and the good knowledge scores

Employment and education of women and their family planning practices

The aim of this study is to assess contraceptive use among employed and non-employed women and to explore the relationship between education as well as aspects related to women's employment and family planning practice. A sample of 120 married women in their reproductive age and having children was randomly selected. Half of them were employed and the other half were housewives. A specially validated interview schedule was developed and used for data collection. The results of this study revealed no significant difference between the mean age of employed and non-employed women. Employed women were significantly better educated and had lesser number of children than housewives. Although a non-significant difference was observed between the employed and non-employed women in relation to contraceptive use, yet 80% of the employed women were current users compared with 66.7% of the housewives. Moreover, employed women were more likely to use modern methods than non- employed. Husbands of employed women contributed more actively in households activities and child care than those of non-employed. The results also revealed that employed women had more active role in financial decisions. They also had more privileges in family affairs