Abstract
Background
This study was conducted to determine the personal choices of contraceptive methods
among an international sample of contraception health care professionals (HCPs) and
to determine if these choices are concordant with their recommendations to women.
Study Design
In an anonymous online survey, 1001 HCPs actively involved in contraceptive counseling
[obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), general practitioners (GPs) and midwives (only
in Sweden)] from 10 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Korea,
Mexico, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) were asked about their personal use
of contraceptive methods and their recommendations to women in two different clinical
scenarios: for spacing between children (Group A) and after completion of the family
(Group B).
Results
The largest HCP group was OB/GYNs (67.1%), followed by GPs (31.4%) and midwives (1.5%).
A total of 42.7% of respondents were male, and 57.3% were female. The majority of
respondents were aged 36–45 years (38.9%) or 46–55 years (42.8%), 79.7% had children,
and 53.9% were currently using contraception (by themselves or by their partners).
Among 540 contraceptive users, the three most common methods were the levonorgestrel-releasing
intrauterine system (LNG-IUS; 29.3%), combined oral contraceptives (COCs; 20.0%) and
condoms (17.0%). OB/GYNs were more likely to be using the LNG-IUS than GPs (p=.014).
Gender did not seem to influence contraceptive preference. Reasons for these choices
were largely influenced by family situation and high contraceptive efficacy (for the
LNG-IUS) or side effects caused by other methods (for condoms). The top contraceptive
recommendation was COCs for Group A and the LNG-IUS for Group B. HCPs currently using
COCs and the LNG-IUS were more likely to recommend these methods than other contraceptive
methods for Group A and Group B, respectively.
Conclusions
The most popular contraceptive method in this sample of HCPs was the LNG-IUS. Choice
of contraceptive method was driven by family situation, age and profession. It appears
that, in this sample, personal contraceptive use influences contraceptive recommendations.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 09, 2012
Accepted:
June 6,
2012
Received in revised form:
June 5,
2012
Received:
May 19,
2012
Footnotes
☆This study was partially funded by Bayer Healthcare; however, the authors did not receive any honorarium or assistance in manuscript preparation.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
