Criteria to evaluate client response to the Standard Days Method in Peru clinics

Once developers of a new contraceptive have established its safety and effectiveness, family planning programs need to determine client response to the new method to decide whether it should become a permanent feature of the program's method-mix. We present three criteria that were formulated to assess client response to the Standard Days Method (SDM) into Peru Ministry of Health using service statistics. 30 clinics in Moyobamba province received the new method and 32 in Jaén province served as control. Criterion 1 refers to the popularity of the SDM vis-à-vis other methods. Clients in Moyobamba preferred SDM to female and male sterilization, IUD, lactation amenorrhea, Billings, and Ogino-Knaus. Criterion 2 refers to the contribution of the new method to overall family planning demand. Only a small minority of clients shifted from other methods. The number of new users of methods significantly increased in Moyobamba as compared to Jaén once clinic variables and the number of continuing users were controlled. Consequently, SDM's promise as an ameliorator of unmet need for contraception was strengthened. Both sets of evidence go in favor of inserting the SDM permanently into the method-mix and expanding its availability at the national level. Criterion 3 refers to the displacement of the unreliable rhythm method, the most popular contraceptive option in Peru, by the new method. Virtually no users of the traditional rhythm method requested contraception services. To further contribute to the reduction of undesired pregnancies, the MOH should explore strategies to attract rhythm users for conversion into SDM users.