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Abstract
Objective To compare, using method type and application time, the demographic characteristics of women using hormonal contraceptive methods administered after abortion or during the interval period with those of intrauterine device (IUD) users.
Methods The demographic characteristics of women to whom oral contraception (OC), monthly injection, depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), or IUD were administered in the post-abortive and interval periods between January 1998 and September 2001 in our clinic, were evaluated with the help of a registration system based on the Microsoft® Access® software used in our clinic. Demographic characteristics recorded were: age, reproductive expectation, previous contraceptive method, education level, number of live children, number of induced and spontaneous abortuses.
Results A total of 10 500 women were included in the study. Of these, 6601 women had taken a contraceptive method during the interval period, and 3899 women had taken a contraceptive method post-abortion. Only 4.6% of the cases were younger than 20 years, 48.3% were between 21 and 30 years, 37.2% were between 31 and 40 years and 9.9% were 41 years old or over. The DMPA-administered group contained the highest number of women ⩾ 41 years when compared to other groups (22.8%). In reproductive expectations, 65.8% of the cases wanted no more children; 1.3% wanted to have a baby within a 2-year period whereas 23.7% wanted a child after 2 years. The proportion of women wanting no more children was greatest in the DMPA-administered group (77.3%). No previous use of contraceptive methods was reported by 20.7% of women; 27% were using coitus interruptus. The education level of the women was as follows: 10% had no education, 58.3% had education to primary school level, 23.2% to secondary–high-school level and 2.1% to university level. The group of women who chose OC as their contraceptive method contained the highest proportion of university graduates (6.5%). Only 6.26% of the women had no children. The proportion of women in the DMPA-use group with three or more children was higher compared to that in other groups (33.2%).
Conclusion The evaluation of demographic characteristics plays an important role in counseling, and in the efficacy and continued use of contraceptive methods.