Continuation and effectiveness of contraceptive practice: a cross-sectional approach

This paper proposes a cross-sectional approach to the study of contraceptive continuation and use-effectiveness, based on data from surveys of married women of reproductive age rather than the more conventional follow-up surveys of family planning acceptors. Such an approach has the advantages of indicating the fertility effects of contraceptive practice during a particular period of time and providing information on the experience of users who obtain contraceptive information or supplies from nonprogram sources. An application of the approach in the context of a nationwide survey of wives living in areas covered by the Outreach Project of the Philippine Commission on Population is presented and the findings are discussed in relation both to program management and to the validity of the methodology.