Changing patterns of contraceptive use in Australian women☆
Received 5 May 2009; received in revised form 11 May 2009; accepted 18 May 2009. published online 13 July 2009.
Abstract
Background
This longitudinal analysis examines how patterns of contraceptive use changed over 11 years among Australian women born between 1973 and 1978.
Study Design
The analysis included 6708 women sampled from the Australian universal health insurance database who completed four self-report postal surveys between 1996 and 2006. Change over time in use of any method of contraception and the common single methods of the oral contraceptive pill and condom was examined using a longitudinal logistic regression model.
Results
The oral contraceptive pill was the most commonly used single method at each survey (27–44%) but decreased over time. Over time, contraceptive users were increasingly more likely to be single or in a de facto relationship or to have had two or more births.
Conclusions
Women's contraceptive use and the factors associated with contraceptive use change over time as women move into relationships, try to conceive, have babies and complete their families.
☆ The research on which this paper is based was conducted as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health at the University of Newcastle and University of Queensland.
ABSTRACT