Contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practices among adolescent girls in a peri-urban South African community

OBJECTIVES: To assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to contraceptive use among adolescent girls in a peri-urban neighbourhood of Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 116 adolescent girls using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 29. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise participants' demographic characteristics and contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practices. RESULTS: Most participants resided in Chris Hani Site B (83.6%) and lived with a parent (94.8%). Condoms (73.3%) were the most recognised contraceptive method, followed by injectable contraceptives (19.0%) and oral contraceptive pills (17.2%). Only 29.3% of participants demonstrated a high level of contraceptive knowledge based on the selected indicators. All participants (100%) acknowledged that contraceptive use is a personal choice and is important for preventing unintended pregnancies. Nevertheless, overall understanding was inconsistent, indicating a gap between general awareness and informed knowledge. Among the 89 sexually active participants, 84 (94.4%) reportedprevious contraceptive use. CONCLUSIONS: Although previous contraceptive use was high among sexually active participants, important gaps in contraceptive knowledge and understanding remained. Targeted health promotion, peer education, and community-based interventions are needed to address misinformation, stigma, and sociocultural barriers and to support informed contraceptive decision-making among adolescent girls.