Patterns of contraception in UK women with Type 1 diabetes mellitus: a GP database study.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the patterns of contraceptive prescribing for women aged 15-49 with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) and compare them with the patterns in women without diabetes.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study using a UK primary care database.


RESULTS
Nine hundred and thirty-eight women with a diagnosis of Type 1 DM were identified. A comparison group of women aged 15-49 without diabetes (n = 10000) were randomly selected from the database. Twenty-five per cent of the women with diabetes and 32% without diabetes were prescribed a hormonal contraceptive in 1994. Women with Type 1 DM were more likely to be prescribed a combined oral contraceptive than a progestogen only pill (POP) but were 2.12 (95% CI 1.65-2.72) times more likely to be prescribed a POP than women without diabetes and were less likely to be prescribed a combined pill - odds ratio 0.53 (95% CI 0.44-0.64). The pregnancy rate in women with Type 1 DM over the age of 25 years was lower than for women without diabetes. Women under 25 years with Type 1 DM seemed more likely to record a pregnancy.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences between women with Type 1 DM and those without diabetes highlight the variation in the way that GPs and patients evaluate the risks and benefits when deciding on contraception.
Lawrenson
R A
RA
European Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, Guildford, Surrey, UK. r.lawrenson@surrey.ac.uk
Leydon
G M
GM
Williams
T J
TJ
Newson
R B
RB
Feher
M D
MD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003267:Contraception / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003273:Contraceptive Devices; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019992:Databases as Topic; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D007434:Intrauterine Devices; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D012016:Reference Values; D013246:Sterilization, Tubal; D006113:United Kingdom
D003276:Contraceptives, Oral