Abstract
Background
Involving women's partners in family planning services may be one avenue by which
rates of unplanned pregnancies can be reduced.
Study Design
In 2009, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2113 women aged 18���49
years receiving services from Title X family planning clinics in the United States
about their contraceptive use and their current partner, including partners' past
involvement in seeking and obtaining contraceptive services.
Results
More than half of the women in the sample (56%) indicated that their partners were
at least partially involved in their contraceptive services. In the multivariable
analysis, race/ethnicity, union status and relationship satisfaction were all significant
predictors of partner involvement in contraceptive services. Women reporting that
their partners interfere with their birth control were nearly twice as likely as women
without interfering partners to report those partners being involved in their contraceptive
services. Contraceptive use at last sex was not associated with partner involvement
in contraceptive services in either bivariable or multivariable analyses.
Conclusion
In designing future couple-focused programs, clinics may need to focus on the interpersonal
dynamics of couple-based decision-making and behaviors and tailor their programs given
the characteristics of clients most likely to avail themselves of these services.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 09, 2011
Accepted:
April 28,
2011
Received in revised form:
April 4,
2011
Received:
February 8,
2011
Footnotes
���Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
