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BACKGROUND Adolescents are disposed to unprotected sexual activity and as a consequence, there is an increasing incidence of unwanted pregnancy among adolescent school girls in Nigeria. This study was carried out to assess the awareness, attitude and use of contraceptives among secondary school girls in Calabar, Nigeria and to determine how attitude affects its use. METHODS Data was obtained using self administered semi-structured questionnaires distributed to 480 secondary school girls out of which 450 were properly filled and returned. These were analysed using percentages and chi-square was used to test for significance. RESULTS The study revealed that contraceptive awareness was high. The main sources of contraceptive information were books/magazines (37%) and friends (26%). Three hundred and thirty-three (74%) girls had a negative attitude (misconceptions) towards contraceptives, while 117 (26%) girls said contraceptives were essential/useful. Sixty-six girls (14.7%) admitted that they were currently sexually active and 42 (9.3%) of them used contraceptives. There was a statistically significant association between positive attitude/beliefs and use of contraceptives (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS We recommend the provision of accurate contraceptive information to dispel these misconceptions and the establishment of adolescent reproductive health services which should be strictly confidential to encourage acceptability and optimum utilization.
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