Distribution of contraceptive use in a Turkish population.
OBJECTIVE
This study is designed to estimate the distribution of contraceptive use among reproductive age women in a Turkish population (Turkey).


METHODS
We included 2365 women of reproductive age in this study. Women were given a questionnaire via a face-to-face interview.


RESULTS
During the time period just after marriage, 1914 women (80.9%) declared that they did not use any type of contraception. Among 451 women who had used a contraceptive method just after marriage, the most commonly used method was condoms (34.2%), followed by oral contraceptives (31.2%) and coitus interruptus (25.9%). When their history of contraceptive use was asked, 1903 women (80.2%) stated that they used a method of contraception while 462 women (19.5%) had never used any type of contraceptive. Distribution of contraceptive methods among women was analyzed and intrauterine devices were detected to be the most commonly used method (n=1046, 55%).


CONCLUSIONS
A point that should be emphasized is that there is a marked increase in contraceptive prevalence, and expansion of family planning activities in Turkey. This change, we believe, is due to improvements in health services of Turkey, realized in recent years.
Bozkurt
Nuray
N
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: nmbozkurt@yahoo.com.
Özkan
Seçil
S
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Ankara, Turkey.
Onan
Anıl
A
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey.
Korucuoğlu
Ümit
Ü
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey.
Aygün
Remzi
R
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Ankara, Turkey.
Himmetoğlu
Özdemir
Ö
Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara, Turkey.