Use of combined oral contraceptives: retrospective study in Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran

We carried out a retrospective cross-sectional study on 500 women in Isfahan who started taking combined oral contraceptives [COCs] during the period 21 March 1995-20 March 1997. The cumulative continuation rate fell from 77% to 12% over 60 months. The most common reason for discontinuation was side-effects. There was a significant correlation between side-effects and cumulative COC continuation rate [P < 0.05]. The lowest rate was seen in women reporting nausea or vomiting. Women who are interested in COCs should receive extensive counselling about the possible side-effects and should be helped to find a method of birth control suited to their temperament and physiology

[ survey on continuation of use in combined oral contraceptives]

Introduction: In order to support health of mother and child, every country should decrease their population with using contraception which is best way. Continuation of use plays an important role in assessment of quality of family planning and it is determined for contraceptive methods' efficiency. Also the present study investigates continuation use of combined oral contraceptives as a method in Iran

Material and Method: The present research is a cross-sectional study surveying 500 women between 15-49 years of age by random clustering method. All these women were using Combined Oral Contraceptives method and were being cared in maternal and child centers. The scale used in data collection was a comprehensive questionnaire which was completed through interviews, filled with trained interviewers. Content validity was used in order to determine the validity of this questionnaire and for data analysis, descriptive and analytic statistics were used. Data analysis was completed by the aid of the SPSS and statistical soft wares

Results : The mean duration of use was 21/38 +/- 15/94 months cumulative proportion of use in 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48 and 60 months after start of taking COC, as 77%, 62%, 52%, 45%, 35%, 28%, 19% and 12% respectively. Findings of the present study showed, the majority of women were 15-24 years old and had secondary school education

Discussion : Results obtained from present research showed continuation use has the highest frequency at first six months and was less at other times. It suggests family health planning workers to improve some clients' counseling and to encourage them to continuous use of contraceptive