Will Men Use Novel Male Contraceptive Methods and Will Women Trust Them? A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Novel male contraceptives have been in development for almost as long as female methods, yet there are no products available on the market. Hormonal approaches tested clinically to date include the use of oral, injectable, implant and transdermal methods. The study of attitudes toward male contraception has been inconsistent and there have been no systematic reviews drawing these data together. We conducted a systematic review of the available evidence for male and female acceptability of novel male contraception. We identified 32 studies and present a narrative synthesis of quantitative data and a thematic synthesis of qualitative data. In novel drug trials, the proportion of male participants willing to use a male contraceptive ranged from 34.0% to as high as 82.3%. In studies regarding hypothetical drugs, male willingness to use ranged from 13.6% to 83.0%. High proportions of women (42.8%–94.0%) reported willingness to use a novel male method in both hypothetical studies and actual drug trials. In qualitative studies, both men and women expressed the desire to share responsibility for contraception. There is consistent interest among both men and women in novel male contraceptive methods and willingness to use them. The systematic review was registered with PROSPERO: CRD42020173281.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Jo Macutkiewicz for her assistance in translating the paper by Skrzypulec et al and Sam Rowlands for his assistance in locating the paper by Brooks.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was carried out at the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health which is supported by the Medical Research Council (UK) under grant MR/N022556/1. The authors’ (JJRW and RAA) work in this field is further supported by funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).