Consumers' attitudes towards physician and pharmacist roles in accessing contraceptive products

The objective was to quantify consumers' attitudes towards access to contraceptive products. A random-digit-dialing telephone survey was conducted with 1,018 people in a rural Midwest state. Respondents were asked whether they believed physicians should prescribe birth control to women 18 and older, women younger than 18 and whether physicians should encourage contraceptive usage among sexually active men and women. They were also asked whether pharmacists should have to fill prescriptions against their religious beliefs and whether pharmacies should be required to carry emergency contraceptives. Descriptive statistics were determined and differences by gender, education and income were explored. Only 2.7% believed physicians should not prescribe birth control to women 18 and over, while 26.2% believed physicians should not prescribe to women younger than 18. Most women (93.5%) and men (94.8%) supported physicians' encouraging contraceptive use among sexually active individuals. Women were more likely to agree and people with lower incomes were less likely to agree with this statement. Regarding pharmacists/pharmacies, 79.2% agreed pharmacists should be required to fill prescriptions for contraceptive products against their religious beliefs and 70.9% agreed pharmacies should be required to carry emergency contraceptive. People with higher incomes were more likely to agree that pharmacists should be required to fill prescriptions and men were more likely to support pharmacists' choice. Increasing access to contraceptive products may reduce unintended pregnancy, and a mid-western population supported increased access among all individuals via these providers. These data will be used as one component to design interventions to increase access to contraceptive products in community pharmacies.