Young women's attitudes toward injectable and implantable contraceptives

To assess the potential acceptability of implantable and injectable contraceptive characteristics by young women of diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds.

A cross-sectional self-administered survey.

The waiting room of three clinical sites: an elite women's college health service, a coeducational state university health service, and an inner city hospital-based adolescent clinic.

328 young women awaiting medical care in one of three clinical sites, aged 13 to 21 years (85% 18-21 years); ethnic distribution differed significantly by site. The majority (83%) were sexually active, and of those who were sexually experienced, 25% had been pregnant.

A 47-item questionnaire examining attitudes toward characteristics of injectable and implantable contraceptive methods, menstrual, sexual, and gynecologic history.

Sixty-two percent of the sample agreed that they would get an injectable method. There was little variation in agreement to get an injectable method by sexual or pregnancy history. Fewer subjects (24%) agreed that they would like to get subdermal implants and agreement to get an implantable method of contraception did not vary by sexual history; however, ever-pregnant young women (33%) were significantly more likely to agree to implants than never-pregnant subjects (21%; chi2, 4.109; p = 0.04). Seventy-four percent of subjects said they would stop using a contraceptive that caused irregular menses, whereas 65% would stop using a method that caused amenorrhea.

An injectable contraceptive method has universal appeal across ethnic, educational, and age categories, whereas implants are less appealing. Irregular bleeding and amenorrhea are poorly perceived side effects of long-acting contraceptives.