Changes in providers' views and practices about emergency contraception with education.
OBJECTIVE
To assess changes in the prescribing practices, knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of health care providers after an educational program about emergency contraception.


METHODS
Health care providers completed self-administered questionnaires before and 1 year after full implementation of the project. The 102 providers who completed both questionnaires were physicians (64%) and mid-level professionals from 13 San Diego County Kaiser Permanente medical offices working in departments such as obstetrics and gynecology, primary care, and emergency medicine.


RESULTS
The frequency of prescription for emergency contraceptive pills increased significantly from baseline to follow-up. There was an increase of almost 20% in the percentage who prescribed emergency contraception at least once a year. Knowledge also improved significantly, and perceptions of barriers to prescribing emergency contraceptive pills within the health maintenance organization decreased significantly. In contrast, attitudes about emergency contraception showed little change.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that providers who participate in in-service training and other aspects of a demonstration project show changes in perceptions, knowledge, and behavior. However, findings also suggest that significant gaps remain in knowledge about medications, side effects, and mode of action. It is likely that many providers in other health care settings also need additional information and training concerning protocols of emergency contraception provision and its modes of action and effects.
Beckman
L J
LJ
California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant University, Alhambra, California 91803, USA. lebckman@alliant.edu
Harvey
S M
SM
Sherman
C A
CA
Petitti
D B
DB
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003282:Contraceptives, Postcoital, Hormonal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003625:Data Collection; D004363:Drug Utilization; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009922:Oregon; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011336:Probability; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D003282:Contraceptives, Postcoital, Hormonal