Survey of IUD replacing status in Sichuan, PR China

To investigate the status of copper-bearing intrauterine device (IUD) replacing inert IUD in Sichuan Province, cluster random sampling method was adopted for the survey. Questionnaires were completed and IUD were inspected through ultrasound among 12,804 subjects of 15 counties, who were inserted an IUD from 1994 to 1998. The insertion rate of copper-bearing IUD was 42.1%, in a gradually increasing trend; it was lower in mountain areas than in plain and hilly areas and increased after induced abortion and previous IUD failure. Some factors, such as lower pregnancy rate, lower expulsion rate and easy removal, etc., contributed to copper-bearing IUD use. On the other hand, other factors like longer contraception period, lower side effects and lower cost contributed to inert IUD use. The results show that the adoption of copper-bearing IUD is increasing, but those factors influencing copper-bearing IUD replacement should not be neglected.