Comparing patient telephone callback rates for different hormonal birth control delivery systems

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Contraception Research
• Patient Adherence Studies

Background:

• Hormonal contraception methods like oral pills, transdermal patches, and vaginal rings are widely used.
• Patient-reported side effects and subsequent healthcare interactions can influence method continuation.
• Understanding callback rates provides insight into patient experience and method tolerability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the number of office telephone callbacks within the first 3 months of use for three hormonal contraceptive methods: vaginal ring, transdermal patch, and oral contraceptive.
• To identify reasons for patient callbacks and assess the frequency of callbacks per method.

Main Methods:

• Prospective follow-up study of patients initiating hormonal contraception (oral, transdermal, vaginal) for 3 months.
• Patients had no or a ≥1-month break from hormonal contraception prior to enrollment.
• Callbacks were recorded, reasons noted, and analyzed using Pearson chi2 test.

Main Results:

• Callback rates differed significantly across the three methods (P = 0.0004).
• The vaginal ring had the lowest callback rate (11/72), followed by oral contraceptives (30/96), and then the transdermal patch (20/40).
• Most callbacks were due to method-related side effects, with some patients experiencing multiple callbacks.

Conclusions:

• The vaginal ring demonstrated the lowest rate of patient callbacks, suggesting good tolerability.
• Callback rates provide valuable data for clinicians counseling patients on contraceptive method selection.
• The findings support the vaginal ring as a well-tolerated hormonal contraceptive option.