Factors linked to women discontinuing the Pill identified in rural Bangladesh.

2003 MAY 1 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A number of factors have been identified that are associated with women ages 15 to 49 years living in rural areas of Bangladesh discontinuing use of oral contraceptives.

"Oral contraceptives (OCs) account for half of all modern contraceptive methods used in Bangladesh, however, discontinuation remains fairly high in OC use," according to M.A. Khan and colleagues, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

The researchers conducted a survey of 1,600 women in rural Bangladesh on their use of OCs. Their definition of discontinuation of OC use was "cessation ... in the six months prior to the survey."

They found that a bit over a third - 36% - had stopped using OCs. Of these, 47% cited side effects from use as their reason for discontinuation.

"Multivariate analysis identified lack of fieldworker's visit as the strongest predictor of OC discontinuation; women who were not visited by fieldworkers had a fourfold risk of discontinuing OC use," reported Khan's group.

The number of children a woman had and the longer she had used OCs were associated with reduced likelihood of her stopping OC use.

Not surprisingly, a woman whose husband didn't support her use of OCs was more likely to discontinue them.