ABSTRACT
PIP: The Adjusted Contraceptive Score (ACS), a new scoring method that was designed to help health providers and acceptors to select the most appropriate behavioral or barrier contraceptive method, was found to positively affect contraceptive performance. In this study, 100 women who applied to an Italian clinic for contraceptive counseling were administered the ACS and 100 controls also attending the clinic were given conventional contraception counseling. The following methods were available to cases and controls: diaphragm, condom, basal temperature, Billings method, Ogino method, and coitus interruptus. At a follow-up interview 12-15 months after the initial clinic visit, study participants were questioned about the number and type of contraceptive methods they had been using. Cases who were administered the ACS reported a significantly lower number of contraceptive choices at follow-up (150 choices total) compared with at the initial visit (224 choices) or the number reported by controls at follow-up (181 choices). Also recorded among those administered the ACS were reduced use of coitus interruptus and the Ogino method and increased reliance on the diaphragm and basal body temperature. Moreover, the occurrence of pregnancy in the follow-up period was markedly less among women administered the ACS (4.2%) than among controls (10.8%). Use of the ACS thus appears to represent a means of achieving effective fertility control among women who cannot use oral contraceptives or the IUD.^ieng
