Adolescent girls' attitudes toward contraceptive subdermal implants

Norplant, which has been shown to be a highly effective and acceptable contraceptive for adult women, may also be a very useful contraceptive for adolescents. This study is designed to determine the level of interest in Norplant for adolescent girls with and without children, their attitudes toward various features of Norplant, and the demographic and psychosocial factors predictive of their interest. A self-administered questionnaire was given to 112 adolescents attending our pediatric or adolescent clinic. Data from 28 adolescent mothers and 79 nulliparous adolescents were analyzed. Fifty-six percent of the subjects had heard of Norplant prior to the survey. The overall level of interest in Norplant was high; 70% of the adolescents without children, and 79% of the adolescent mothers were interested. In comparison to oral contraceptives, 73% of those without children and 89% of those with children thought Norplant would be a better contraceptive. The specific features of Norplant liked by 87% and 81% of the subjects, respectively, were not needing to take pills every day and its effectiveness in preventing pregnancy. The characteristics seen as most undesirable related to potential side effects with acne being mentioned by 87% of the subjects. Recursive partitioning analysis demonstrates that more than one prior pregnancy was the main characteristic predictive of very high levels of interest. In summary, this study demonstrates high levels of interest in Norplant by adolescents and suggests that it should be offered as a contraceptive option, especially to those girls who have previously been pregnant.