Abstract
Author(s): Daria Jorg, Katarzyna Zborowska, Violetta Skrzypulec-Plinta
Introduction. The medical product ellaOne contains an active substance, ulipristal acetate, an oral synthetic selective modulator of a progesterone receptor. Its effect results from its influence on a woman’s natural hormonal cycle. EllaOne inhibits or delays ovulation. Study objective. Presenting a level of knowledge and opinions of students of the University of Silesa in Katowice about effects, use and availability of ellaOne tablets. Material and methods. The study covered 418 students, of which 85.5% were women (N=358), and 14.5% were men (N=60), of mean age 25.2 years. Participants completed a proprietary questionnaire consisting of 8 questions concerning effects, use, distinguishing from an abortion pill, availability, and own opinion about the specified medicine. Statistical analyses were conducted in the IBM SPSS Statistics package. Results. 55% of participants are against changes in the legal status of ellaOne. However, when asked about an emergency situation, in which they would have to make a decision about using ellaOne or not, 46% women declares they would not use this medicine, and 34% men would advise their partners against taking it. In the study, five questions were asked concerning participants’ awareness about effects and use of ellaOne, 9.6% of respondents gave 4 or 5 correct answers, 70% indicated two or less correct answers, and 13.2% were able to give a correct answer to a question how ellaOne works. Conclusions. Students of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice do not have knowledge about ellaOne. The results indicate there is high demand for education in this area