Adolescent girls report frequent changes in contraceptive methods.(Gynecology)

NEW ORLEANS -- Changes in contraceptive methods are frequent among adolescent girls, and tend to reflect pregnancy status and changes in sexual relationships and behaviors, Jennifer L. Woods, M.D., reported at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology.

A 27-month longitudinal study of 275 sexually active girls aged 14-17 produced 1,513 pairs of sequential reports on contraceptive use. Of these, 19% consistently used no contraception, 38% consistently used condoms or hormonal contraception, and 43% changed contraceptive methods between quarterly reports during the study period, said Dr. Woods of Indiana University, Indianapolis.

Of those girls who said they changed contraception, 82% switched methods at least once during the period of the study, and 44% of the girls changed at least three times. About 4% of the changes were from hormonal contraception to no contraception, about 5% of the changes were from no contraception to hormonal contraception, 5% were from condoms to no contraception, and 5% were from no contraception to condoms.

Participants in the study included adolescent patients at primary care clinics. They completed interviews at study entry and exit, and every 3 months during the study period, during which they reported the types of contraceptive method used in the previous 3 ...