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Healthcare Prof:

5 (two votes)

Rates of unintended pregnancies and abortions decrease significantly when ladies receive a one-year supply of oral contraceptives, instead of becoming prescribed one- or three-month supplies, a UCSF study shows.

Researchers observed a 30 percent reduction within the odds of pregnancy and a 46 percent decrease within the odds of an abortion in girls given a one-year supply of birth manage pills at a clinic versus ladies who received the standard prescriptions for one – or three-month supplies.

The researchers speculate that a larger supply of oral contraceptive pills may allow a lot more consistent use, given that females need to make fewer visits to a clinic or pharmacy for their next supply.

“Women need to have contraceptives on hand so that their use is as automatic as using safety devices in cars, ” said Diana Greene Foster, PhD, lead author and associate professor inside the UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences. “Providing 1 cycle of oral contraceptives at a time is similar to asking individuals to visit a clinic or pharmacy to renew their seatbelts each month.”

Foster also is director of investigation for Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Wellness, part of the UCSF Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Wellness. Her study’s findings appear online here.

The researchers linked 84,401 ladies who received oral contraceptives in January 2006 through Family members PACT (Planning, Access, Care, Treatment), a California loved ones planning program, to Medi-Cal data showing pregnancies and births in 2006. Via Loved ones PACT, some family preparing clinics are able to dispense a one-year supply of pills on-site.

Oral contraceptive pills are the most commonly utilised method of reversible contraception in the United States, the team states. Whilst extremely effective when used correctly (three pregnancies per 1,000 girls inside the very first year of use), approximately half of women regularly miss 1 or much more pills per cycle, a practice associated with a much higher pregnancy rate (80 pregnancies per 1,000 females within the initial year of use), in accordance with the team.

The findings of this study have implications for women using oral contraceptives across the country. Most oral contraceptive users in the United States get fewer than four packs at a time; nearly half need to return every month for resupply, in accordance with a 2010 study published in Contraception.

Making oral contraceptive pills far more accessible could reduce the incidence of unintended pregnancy and abortion, while saving taxpayers’ dollars, the researchers state. If the 65,000 women in the analysis who received either one or three packs of pills at a time had experienced the same pregnancy and abortion rates as girls who received a one-year supply, almost 1,300 publicly funded pregnancies and 300 abortions would have been averted, according to the team.

“The evidence indicates that health plans and public wellness programs may possibly steer clear of paying for costly unintended pregnancies by increasing dispensing limits on oral contraceptives,” stated Foster. “Improving access to contraceptive methods reduces the need for abortion and helps females to plan their pregnancies.”

Co-authors are Denis Hulett, Mary Bradsberry, Phillip Darney, MD, MSc, and Michael Policar, MD, MPH, all using the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Wellness, UCSF Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, and San Francisco General Hospital.

Source:
Karin Rush-Monroe
University of California – San Francisco