310619
Influence of clinician counseling on contraceptive method choice among a sample of women initiating birth control
Methods. Women seeking to start a new contraceptive method and who had not used any hormonal method in the past six months were enrolled into an online study after visiting family planning clinics throughout the US.
Results. Data represent N=78 women between the ages of 14-42 (mean=24.24) who indicated no preference for a specific method at the beginning of the appointment. Large discrepancies exist in the range of methods covered during a typical counseling session. The majority of participants received information on the pill (82.1%) and condoms (62.8%) with far fewer being counseled on IUDs (29.5%) or the implant (23.1%). At the end of the visit, 50% (n=39) initiated the pill, 6.41% (n=5) started the vaginal ring, 5.13% (n=4) received the shot, 2.56% (n=2) had an IUD inserted, 7.69% (n=6) left using condoms only, 3.84% (n=3) were using other non-hormonal methods, and almost one-quarter (24.36%, n=19) left without initiating a contraceptive method.
Conclusions. Clinicians appear to exert strong influence on method choice and should incorporate information on all available methods, particularly for women who begin the counseling session with no preference for one method over another.
Learning Areas:
Clinical medicine applied in public healthProvision of health care to the public
Learning Objectives:
Identify the frequency with which various contraceptive methods are discussed during a typical contraceptive counseling session.
Describe the relationship between contraceptive counseling and method choice among a sample of women initiating a new birth control method.
Keyword(s): Contraception, Family Planning
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an author on this abstract because I am the Principal Investigator for this research study. I have over ten years of experience in the field of women's reproductive health. I am currently a postdoctoral research associate with the Office of Population Research at Princeton University.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.