High levels of women's satisfaction and compliance with transdermal contraception: results from a European multinational, 6-month study

Abstract

Objective. To investigate compliance, satisfaction, and preference in women using a transdermal contraceptive patch.

Methods. Women (18–46 years) from eight European countries used contraceptive patches (norelgestromin 6 mg, ethinylestradiol 600 μg) for six, 4-week treatment cycles. Compliance, satisfaction, and preference were assessed after 3 and 6 cycles and study completion using self-report methods.

Results. Of the 778 participants, 36.8% (n = 287) used no contraception at baseline. The most common methods were oral contraceptives (67.9%, n = 334) and barrier methods (21.5%, n = 106). Of oral contraception users, 63.5% (n = 212) were satisfied or very satisfied with their previous method, but compliance was poor with 77.8% (n = 260) reporting missed doses. After 3 and 6 cycles, >80% of all included women were satisfied or very satisfied with the patch. At study completion, most participants (73.7%) reported a preference for the patch compared to their previous method. Of 4107 cycles, 3718 (90.5%) were completed with perfect compliance. Two pregnancies occurred during this study, representing a Pearl Index of 0.63. No new safety issues were identified and the patch was well tolerated.

Conclusion. Women were highly satisfied with transdermal contraception and preferred this form of family planning over their previous method. Transdermal contraception represents a valuable addition to contraceptive options with potential to offer high compliance and efficacy.

Keywords:

• Transdermal patch
• hormonal contraception
• compliance
• satisfaction
• preference

Acknowledgments

We thank Anne Van De Weghe of Write & Design for the assistance in writing the manuscript (medical writing service funded by Janssen-Cilag). We also gratefully thank all the Clinical Investigators from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Russia, who participated to this study.

Declaration of interest: This study was sponsored by Janssen-Cilag. S. Marelli, P. Bergmans, M. Von Poncet, and E. J. Lee are the employees of Janssen-Cilag. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.