Abstract
Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA; Depo-Provera®, Merck & Co., Inc., NJ, USA) is a very safe and effective method of birth control that can be used by virtually every woman. However, DMPA has not achieved its full potential for pregnancy protection. With correct and consistent use, the first-year pregnancy rate should be 0.3%, but in typical use, the first-year pregnancy rate is 7.4%. This gap is due to interrupted use and high discontinuation rates. Responding to patient complaints of side effects and adopting new practice protocols that enhance prompt access to DMPA may improve continuation rates and lower failure rates. Newer information about the long-term safety of DMPA on bone health and sexually transmitted disease risk may encourage more clinicians to more enthusiastically support the use of DMPA, particularly among women who would benefit from its noncontraceptive health applications.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
Anita Nelson has served on the speaker’s bureau for Pharmacia and Pfizer. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.