Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #100678

Arvind Bakhru, MPH, School of Medicine, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Avenue, URMC Box 6, Rochester, NY 14620, 585-453-0852, arvind_bakhru@urmc.rochester.edu

Despite the availability of safe and effective contraception, approximately one-half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned or unintended, and nearly half of these end in pregnancy termination. The rate of unintended pregnancy among United States adolescents remains the highest in the industrialized world. Yet while contraceptive usage is improving among teenagers, fewer adults are using contraception regularly. To solve this dilemma, both feasibility - the acceptability and actual usage of contraception - and compliance - regular and continued use of contraception – must be addressed.

In the past few years, several new contraceptive options have become available. Improvements have been made in the formulations, delivery, and dosing frequency of contraceptive therapies. Newer methods such as “the patch,” “the ring,” and “the shot” may be more feasible and achieve better compliance among high risk populations, including adolescents.

970 persons aged 12-44 were included in this study, identified from three large high risk clinics of Planned Parenthood of the Rochester and Syracuse Region (PPRSR). All clients prescribed the contraceptive patch over a one year period at any of the sites were captured in an administrative database, and charts of clients prescribed the contraceptive patch were subsequently abstracted. Charts were reviewed for patient demographic data, obstetrical history, insurance data, follow-up with PPRSR, compliance, and pregnancy outcomes. The primary outcome was time to discontinuance of the patch calculated in days. Survival analyses employing lifetables and Cox proportional hazards were used to assess compliance success with the contraceptive patch.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the contraceptive needs of high risk populations.
• Distinguish between compliance and feasability of contraceptive therapies.
• Articulate the risk factors associated with decreased compliance with contraceptive therapies in high risk populations.
• Evaluate the feasbaility and utility of newer contraceptive methods.
• Prioritize funding between newer and older contraceptive therapies.

Keywords: Contraception, Primary Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.