title: Pharmacy communication to adolescents and their physicians regarding access to emergency contraception.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Emergency contraception (EC) is an effective pregnancy prevention strategy. EC is available without a prescription to those aged 17 years or older. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of information provided to adolescents and their physicians when they telephone pharmacies to inquire about EC.
  
  
  METHODS
  By using standardized scripts, female callers telephoned 943 pharmacies in 5 US cities posing as 17-year-old adolescents or as physicians calling on behalf of their 17-year-old patients. McNemar tests were used to compare outcomes between adolescent and physician callers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven hundred fifty-nine pharmacies (80%) indicated to adolescent callers, and 766 (81%) to physician callers, that EC was available on the day of the call. However, 145 pharmacies (19%) incorrectly told the adolescent callers that it would be impossible to obtain EC under any circumstances, compared with 23 pharmacies (3%) for physician callers. Pharmacies conveyed the correct age to dispense EC without a prescription in 431 adolescent calls (57%) and 466 physician calls (61%). Compared with physician callers, adolescent callers were put on hold more often (54% vs 26%) and spoke to self-identified pharmacists less often (3% vs 12%, P < .0001). When EC was not available, 36% and 33% of pharmacies called by adolescents and physicians respectively offered no additional suggestions on how to obtain it.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most pharmacies report having EC in stock. However, misinformation regarding who can take EC, and at what age it is available without a prescription, is common. Such misinformation may create barriers to timely access.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. tracey.wilkinson@bmc.org
authors.forename: Tracey A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: Nisha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fahey
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Suther
authors.forename: Howard J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silverstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital