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Clinical availability of the copper IUD in rural versus urban settings: A simulated patient study
Kristen Lilja1, Jennifer Chin2, Lyndsey S Benson2
1Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
Objective:
To assess the proportion of Washington state clinics that offer the copper IUD in rural vs urban settings.
Study Design:
We employed a simulated patient model to survey clinics in the Human Health Resources and Services Administration 340B database to primarily assess the availability of the copper IUD.
Results:
We successfully surveyed 194/212 (92%) clinics. More urban than rural clinics reported copper IUD availability (76/97 [78%] vs 49/97 [51%]; p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
Rural clinics are less likely than urban clinics to have the copper IUD available.
Implications:
The frequency of unintended pregnancies is high in the United States. We should focus our attention on decreasing barriers to the copper IUD as a long-acting reversible contraceptive, particularly for women living in rural settings.
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