Contraceptive Use Among Adolescents With and Without Disabilities

The aim of this study is to assess contraceptive use at last intercourse among adolescent girls with and without disabilities.

Data were from the 2015 and 2017 Oregon Healthy Teens survey, a state-wide representative sample of 11th grade students. Among respondents at risk for unplanned pregnancy (n = 3,702), we estimated the prevalence of contraceptive method used at last intercourse-including intrauterine device, implant, Depo-Provera, oral contraceptive pills, patch, ring, condoms, withdrawal, and emergency contraception-by disability status. We used multivariable Poisson regression to measure the association between disability status and use of any contraceptive.

Girls with disabilities were more likely to report having had intercourse compared to girls without disabilities (49.2% vs. 37.4%). Girls with disabilities were less likely to use oral contraceptive pills (32.8% vs. 36.6%) or condoms (51.9% vs. 59.7%) compared to their non-disabled peers. After adjusting for demographic factors, 92.3% of girls with disabilities reported using any contraceptive method compared to 94.7% of girls without a disability (adjusted prevalence difference -2.6%, 95% CI -.26%, -4.9%; adjusted prevalence ratio .97, 95% CI .95-1.00, p = .03).

We observed high levels of contraceptive use among Oregon high school girls. Still, girls with disabilities were slightly less likely to report contraceptive use compared to their non-disabled peers. Given the high proportion of teens with disabilities who are sexually active, the magnitude of the difference in contraceptive use could be of concern on a national scale and further research is warranted.