[Emergency contraception in France: the user profile]. / Caractéristiques des utilisatrices de pilule du lendemain, en France.

OBJECTIVES: Emergency contraception pill (ECP) has recently become available in France without prescription since 1999. The aim of this study was to explore knowledge, attitudes toward, and use of ECP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A national sample of 1639 women were interviewed by telephone randomly selected from the telephone directory. After sending a letter to each household to minimize the number of refusals, finally 397 eligible women aged 18-44 years accepted to answer. RESULTS: Seventy-one percent of women know ECP and 9% had ever used ECP. ECP users were younger, more often single, but no important difference was found with education level, religion and knowledge of ECP between users and non-users. Only 25% of the women knew the exact correct time for using it (within 72 h following an unprotected sex). ECP users had more sexual partners in their life (12 vs. 4, P < 0.05) and 27% vs. 8%, had a previous history of sexual transmitted disease (P < 0.01). ECP users had a different contraceptive profile than non-users; they used less effective methods but the frequency of contraception use was found to be higher. Finally, over 1 year, the percentage of potential ECP users can be estimated at 13% considering women who had reported problems with condom use, forgot their pill once or more. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: ECP users are different from non-users, but all women are concerned and should receive increased education on ECP use. Making ECP more easily available in population may reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy.