Beliefs About Protection Against Sexually Transmitted Infections Attributed to Emergency Contraception Among University Students
Objective: To describe beliefs about protection against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) attributed to oral emergency contraception among university students.
Methods: An observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study included 377 records from a survey conducted in 2025. Responses to a question about protection against STIs, sources of information on contraceptive methods, and demographic characteristics were analyzed. Absolute frequencies and percentages were calculated without hypothesis testing.
Results: Participants included 254 women (67.4%) and 123 men (32.6%). A total of 264 students (70.0%) selected the response indicating no protection against STIs; 113 (30.0%) attributed some protection to the medication. The most frequent misconception was that it protects against vaginal infections (70; 18.6%). The internet was the most frequently reported information source (233; 61.8%), followed by school (92; 24.4%). Among those reporting the internet, 76 (32.6%) selected a response attributing protection against infections.
Conclusions: Three in ten participants attributed protection against infections to emergency contraception. The findings support proposing educational content that distinguishes pregnancy prevention from STI prevention. They do not establish sexual behaviors or causal effects of information sources.