Abstract
Objective
Integration of reproductive health services into comprehensive primary care is increasingly
viewed as a strategy to address service gaps and improve patient-centered care. We
assess receipt of contraceptive and prepregnancy health counseling among pregnancy-capable
Veterans within Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care.
Study Design
Data are from 1076 participants in a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey
of women Veterans ages 18 to 45 with an overall survey response rate of 28%. Descriptive
analyses and chi square tests of association were performed.
Results
Only 44% of pregnancy-capable Veterans reported receiving any contraceptive and/or
prepregnancy care from a VA primary care provider in the past year.
Conclusions
Although VA guidelines include reproductive services as a core component of primary
care, additional efforts may be needed to promote routine provision of this care in
practice.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 13, 2023
Accepted:
January 9,
2023
Received in revised form:
January 3,
2023
Received:
May 19,
2022
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.
Funding: This study was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) Merit Review Award, IIR 12–124 (PI: Dr. Sonya Borrero). Dr. Quinn is supported by a VA HSR&D Career Development Award (20-224).
Identification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc.
