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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Victoria H. Jennings, PhD, Marcos D Arevalo, MD, MPH, and Irit Sinai, PhD. Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University School of Medicine, 3800 Reservoir Road NW, 3PHC, Washington, DC 20007, 202-687-1392, jenningv@georgetown.edu
It is commonly assumed that fertility awareness-based family planning methods, which involve use of a barrier method or abstinence during fertile days of the menstrual cycle, are unacceptable to a significant proportion of couples. The Standard Days Method (SDM) was offered to 478 couples in Bolivia, Peru and the Philippines in the context of an efficacy study. While SDM can be used with barrier methods during fertile days, couples participating in the study were asked to abstain on those days (days 8-19) to avoid confounding the contraceptive effect of barrier methods when calculating efficacy rates. They also were asked to complete a prospective diary card including cycle day, menses, intercourse, and use of another method. Study participants' coital frequency was slightly higher than that reported in respective country surveys. Intercourse during menses was more frequent than expected. Intercourse patterns during the remainder of the cycle were as expected, with significantly higher incidence on days just preceding and just following fertile days. Intercourse frequency during pregnancy cycles was slightly higher than in non-pregnancy cycles. There is no relationship between intercourse frequency and use of another method on fertile days. This suggests that while fertility awareness-based method's requirements of abstinence or barrier methods use may be difficult for some couples, there is no difference in coital frequency between those who used an additional method and those who did not. However, barrier method use on fertile days is an important option. This has implications for counseling and may influence willingness of programs to offer these methods and of clients to use them.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Family Planning, Sexual Behavior
Related Web page: www.irh.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.