Awareness of the non-contraceptive benefits of reversible contraceptive methods in a cohort of Brazilian women: an exploratory study

Abstract

Purpose

We assess the awareness of Brazilian women about non-contraceptive benefits of contraceptives and compare non-health with health care providers.

Material and methods

We conducted a survey in Brazil using a questionnaire administered via Google Forms asking women to respond about the awareness of non-contraceptive benefits of combined oral contraceptives (COCs), depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), 52 mg levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS), etonogestrel (ENG)-implant, copper intrauterine device (Cu-IUD), and male condom.

Results

We received 2,068 completed questionnaires, 720 women (34.8%) aged ≤ 29 years and 236 (11.4%) were physicians or nurses. Only one third of the respondents were aware that COC use is associated with decreased risks of ovarian and endometrial cancers; 296 (16.1%) about that the use of DMPA is associated with a decreased risk of endometrial cancer, and 253 (13.8%) were aware about that the users of the Cu-IUD present lower risk of cervical cancer. We identified significant differences between non-health care providers when compared to physicians or nurses.

Conclusions

We found low awareness regarding the associated lower risk of ovarian, endometrial and cervical cancer associated with the use of some contraceptives, evidencing the need to provide more information about the non-contraceptive benefits during training for health care providers.

摘要

目的：我们评估了巴西妇女对避孕用品的非避孕益处的认识, 并且比较非卫生健康提供者和医务工作者认识的比较。

材料和方法:我们在巴西进行了一项调查, 通过谷歌表格进行问卷调查, 要求女性就联合口服避孕药(COCs)、醋酸甲羟孕酮(DMPA)、52 mg左炔诺孕酮宫内缓释系统(LNG-IUS)、依托孕烯 (ENG)植入、宫内节育器(Cu-IUD)和男性避孕套的非避孕的益处进行回答。

结果:共收到2,068份完整问卷, 其中女性720份(34.8%), 平均年龄29岁, 医生或护士236份(11.4%)。只有三分之一的受访者知道应用COC与降低卵巢癌和子宫内膜癌风险相关；296人(16.1%)知道应用DMPA可降低患子宫内膜癌的风险, 253人(13.8%)知道应用宫内节育器可以降低宫颈癌的风险。我们确定了非卫生保健提供者与医生或护士之间的显著差异。

结论:我们发现, 人们对应用某些避孕用品降低卵巢癌、子宫内膜癌和宫颈癌风险的意识较低, 这证明有必要在培训医护人员时提供更多关于避孕用品非避孕方面益处的信息

Keywords:

• Reversible contraception
• side effects
• non-contraceptive benefits
• ‘side benefits’

Disclosure statement

LB have served on Medical Advisory Boards and given ad hoc invited lectures for Merck, Bayer and Vifor. The other author does not have any conflict.

Role of the funding source

The institutions which provided financial support for the conduct of this research do not have any participation in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; and in the decision to submit the article for publication.

Additional information

Funding

This study received partial financial support from the Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) award No. 2015/20504-9 and from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) grant No. 573747/2008-3.