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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Ricardo Vernon, PhD and Irma J. Mendoza, MD. Frontiers Program, Population Council, Escondida # 110, Col. Villa Coyoacán, Mexico, D.F, 04000, Mexico, (52)(55) 5554-0388, rvernon@popcouncil.org.mx
Standard contraception textbooks recommend that pregnancies be ruled out by looking at several criteria other than menstrual bleeding and that contraceptive methods be provided in all cases when a pregnancy has been ruled out. This project assessed the potential impact of appropriately ruling out pregnancies on the access to family planning service delivery in rural health centers in Honduras. Clients requesting contraception services in 26 rural health centers were assessed using three different checklists (for women requesting contraceptive pills, injectable contraceptives and the IUD).
The results showed that the use of the checklists to rule out pregnancies would save an additional trip to the clinic for 38% of women requesting the IUD, each trip representing 227 minutes in client’s time and about US $2.00 in direct and opportunity costs per trip. In the case of women requesting DepoProvera, 64% of women would save at least one additional trip, each at a cost of 185 minutes US $ 1.77. Finally, in the case of women requesting oral contraceptives, 38% of women would save 135 minutes of their time and US$ 1.15. The positive predictive value of different indicators to rule out pregnancies are also discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.