265042 Misunderstanding the risk of conception from unprotected sex and contraceptive use

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

M. Antonia Biggs, PhD , Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Diana Greene Foster, PhD , Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, Department of Ob/Gyn, University of California, San Francisco, Oakland, CA
Method effectiveness is one of the primary reasons women may choose a given method, yet little is known about women's knowledge of the risk of conception from using (or not using) contraception and the factors associated with such knowledge. 1,504 women in 13 family planning clinics across the US were surveyed regarding their perceptions of a couple's pregnancy risk. Over one quarter (27%) of women underestimated the risk of conception from one year of unprotected sex and 70% overestimated the risk of conception from one act of unprotected sex. A large proportion of women, particularly African American and Latina women overestimated the risk of conception from using condoms (42%), oral contraceptives (OCs) (38%), and IUDs (42%). Women who recently engaged in unprotected sex were more likely to overestimate the failure rate of these methods. Women were significantly more likely to accurately assess the effectiveness of the method they planned to use. These findings suggest the need to improve women's knowledge of the effectiveness of various methods in order to increase contraceptive uptake.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe women’s knowledge of the risk of conception from having unprotected sex and from using condoms, OCs, and IUDs. 2. Identify demographic groups who are significantly more likely to accurately assess the risk of conception from unprotected sex and birth control use.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a senior researcher at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco. As a researcher for the study of family planning clients, I analyzed the data included in this abstract. I hold a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Boston University.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4372.0: PRSH Posters: Reproductive and sexual health for teens and young adults