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

Abstract #116576

Heike Thiel de Bocanegra, PhD, MPH¹, Cynthia Klaisle, MSN, NP¹, Diana Foster Greene, PhD², Leslie Watts, MS¹, and Ram Parvataneni, MD, MPH¹. (1) Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy, University of California, San Francisco, DHS Office of Family Planning, 1615 Capitol Ave, PO Box 997413, MS 8400, Sacramento, CA 95899, 916-552-8793, thielh@obgyn.ucsf.edu, (2) Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy, University of California, San Franscisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 265, San Francisco, CA 94143

A major objective of California's Family PACT (Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment) Program is to ensure adoption and retention of effective contraception. As part of a Medical Record Review of 4,936 medical records, we tracked 554 women who received family planning services in 1997 until 2001.

Initiation of use of the Family PACT Program was associated with adoption of more effective methods of contraception. Before the first visit, 24% were using no contraceptive method, and 50% were using effective methods. At the end of the visit, 3% did not use any method and 66% used effective methods. In 14% of visits women switched to a more effective method of contraception.

Contraceptive continuation rates varied both by method and by client age, race/ethnicity, and provider sector. Fifty-four percent of oral contraceptive users, 41% of contraceptive injection users, and 19% of barrier method users were still using their respective methods after one year. Older women tended to continue use of barrier methods for longer than young women.

Among users of oral contraception, younger clients, African American clients, and clients of private sector providers had shorter durations of use than other women. The proportion of clients who adopted high efficacy contraceptives at the end of the visit was higher for public providers than for private providers. We will discuss how the ongoing program monitoring activities and analysis of family planning utilization resulted in quality improvement activities such as age appropriate outreach and counseling focusing on method continuation as well as provider training.

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