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Irit Sinai, PhD, Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University School of Medicine, 4301 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008, 202-687-1392, sinaii@georgetown.edu
Fertility awareness-based methods of family planning require modification of sexual behavior. They identify the days in which the woman is most likely to become pregnant. Couples wishing to prevent pregnancy use barrier methods or abstain from sexual intercourse on these days. This change in sexual behavior may affect efficacy, continuation rate, and acceptability of these methods.
One such method is the Standard Days Method, which requires that couples use barrier methods or abstain from sexual intercourse for 12 consecutive days each cycle. A multi-site efficacy trial in Bolivia, Peru, and the Philippines showed that the method is highly effective (results reported elsewhere).
Results from two studies are compared. The first study followed women who had completed one year of method use during the previous efficacy trial. Approximately 200 of these women were regularly followed for two additional years. The second study is an interview with the first 1000 women who adopted the method in a Peru district where the method was offered as part of regular service delivery, with no follow up (6-12 months after acceptance of the method).
Results of the first study suggest that long-term efficacy is high (only 11 unplanned pregnancies in two-years). Some 65% of the women who entered this phase were still using the method two years later. Preliminary results from the second study show high efficacy and continuation rates. These findings suggest that couples in both service-delivery and study settings were able to successfully adapt their sexual behavior to the requirements of the method.
Learning Objectives: Users of fertility awareness-based method of family planning adapt their sexual behavior to the methods’ requirement of using a barrier method or abstaining from sexual intercourse during the fertile days of the cycle. At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will know
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.