Pharmacy Provision of Emergency Contraception to Males: A Survey of Pharmacist Attitudes in Rhode Island, USA

Objective: In December 2006 the FDA revised its statement approving the over-the-counter sale of emergency contraception (EC) to include men above the age of 18 as possible buyers. However, cases of pharmacy refusal to sell to men still exist. As no studies have examined attitudes towards male EC access, this study describes pharmacy staff members' attitudes and practices related to male EC requests, as well as the occurrence of male purchases in Rhode Island.

Study design: Cross-sectional survey of Rhode Island pharmacy staff (n=226), utilizing a 21-item questionnaire on demographics, EC provision practices, recall of male EC purchases, and male EC access attitudes.

Results: Of 151 pharmacies surveyed, 91 responded, providing 226 individual pharmacy staff member surveys. Among this population, 95.6% had sold EC. Though 59.73% believed male EC purchases seldom occur, 63.3% sold EC to a man in the last year. Ten (4.4%) respondents refused sale to a man. Respondents were less likely to agree that males should always have access if they also believed that access would decrease regular contraceptive use (p=0.008) and if they could not verify the female recipient's consent (p<0.001).

Conclusions: Male EC purchases are more common than the majority of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians believe. Though the majority expressed personal reservations against providing to men, the majority still agreed that men should have access to EC. These findings suggest that pharmacies are an acceptable setting for male EC access and that refusal, while existent, may not be a barrier to male EC access.