Attitudes to current oral contraceptive use and future developments: the women's perspective.
OBJECTIVE
The study was planned to determine current trends in contraceptive usage and to examine the attitudes, needs and preferences of women with respect to oral contraceptives.


METHODS
Semi-structured interviews were carried out with women (n = 1201, aged 16-45 years) in Germany, the UK and France.


RESULTS
The study revealed that oral contraceptives were the most popular method of contraception employed, followed by condoms, and that the majority of respondents were aged 16-19 years when they first used an oral contraceptive. An important finding of the study was that an oral contraceptive was first used only after having sexual intercourse for the first time (within 1 year), emphasizing the importance of effective contraceptive information and education for adolescents. Regarding non-contraceptive health benefits, protection from ovarian and endometrial cancer was perceived by respondents to be of the greatest importance; however, few women were spontaneously aware of this benefit. When given a number of different oral contraceptive intake options to assess, the established 'once daily for 21 consecutive days' option remained the most popular, although a 'once weekly' alternative was cited by many women. When asked about the preferred frequency of menstrual bleeding, there was a polarization between women favoring the normal monthly bleed and those wanting a 'no-bleed' regimen.


CONCLUSIONS
Women are poorly informed about oral contraceptive use, and are largely unaware of the important long-term non-contraceptive benefits. Many women would prefer alternative pill intake options and a significant number would favor a 'no-bleed' regimen.
Fuchs
N
N
SBU, Fertility Control and Hormone Therapy, Schering AG, Berlin, Germany.
Prinz
H
H
Koch
U
U
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D005602:France; D005858:Germany; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*
D003276:Contraceptives, Oral