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

Abstract #104984

Ruth Petersen, MD, MPH¹, Jennifer Albright, MPH², Hayley Holland, MPH², Patricia Payne, CNM, MPH³, Valerie King, MD, MPH⁴, and Kathryn M. Curtis, PhD⁵. (1) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Center for Women's Health Research, University of North Carolina, CB # 7521, 725 Airport Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7521, 919-966-7924, ruth_petersen@unc.edu, (2) Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of NC, CB # 7521, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7521, (3) School of Nursing, East Carolina University, Rivers RW309, Greenville, NC 27858, (4) Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239-7591, (5) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, Mailstop K34, Atlanta, GA 30341

Objectives: To offer information about and access to emergency contraception (EC) in a standardized manner to women at risk of unintended pregnancy and evaluate the acceptance and use of emergency contraception over a 2-month follow-up period.

Design, Setting and Participants: Randomized trial of 747 women at risk of unintended pregnancy, screened from March 2003 to September 2004 at three primary health care centers in North Carolina.

Intervention: Behavioral-based, contraceptive counseling intervention administered by a health educator to enhance provider services. All intervention participants (n=326) received contraceptive counseling that included the option of discussing and obtaining an advance prescription for EC. Women were queried about their EC knowledge and given information regarding what EC is, how it works, when it would be useful and how to use it.

Results: Among the 280 women who discussed EC during the intervention, 159 women (56.8%) accepted an advance prescription for EC and 121 (43.2%) declined a prescription. At 2-month follow-up, among the 159 women who accepted a prescription, 10 (6.3%) had filled and used it, 13 (8.2%) had filled but not used it, and 136 (85.5%) had not filled the prescription.

Discussion: Standardized EC counseling with an option for obtaining a prescription to fill, as needed, can be included in primary care settings. Many women at risk of unintended pregnancy prefer to have an advance EC prescription available. Longer follow-up will allow us to better assess the impact of advance prescription.

Learning Objectives: