Factors influencing the contraceptive method choice: a university hospital experience

Objective: To analyze the factors influencing behavior of women in choosing contraceptive methods. Material and Methods: A total of 4022 women who were admitted to our clinic in a year, were the subjects in this current study for contraception choices. Relationship between the current contraceptive choice and the age, marital status, educational level, gravidity and induced abortions were evaluated. Results: Current users of any contraceptive methods were found to make up thirty-three percent of the entire study population. The most preferred method of contraception was an intrauterine device (46.4%), followed by, condom (19.2%), coitus interruptus (16.4%), tubal sterilization (11%), oral contraceptives (5.7%) and lastly the "other methods" that consisted of depot injectables and implants (1.2%). Among other contraceptive methods, the condom was found to be used mostly by the younger age group (OR: 0.956, 95% CI: 0.936-0.976, p<0.001), while tubal sterilization was preferred mainly by the elderly population (p<0.001, OR: 1.091, 95% CI: 1.062-1.122). Women that have a higher educational level, were found to use OC (76.3%, OR: 5.970, 95% CI: 3.233-11.022), tubal sterilization (59.6%, OR: 4.110, 95% CI: 2.694-6.271) and other methods (62.5%, OR: 3.279, 95% CI: 1.033-10.402) more commonly than the low educational group (p< 0.001). Conclusion: These results demonstrated that the rates of both contraception utilization and the usage of more effective methods of contraception need to be increased by providing better family planning systems and counselling opportunities.