ADHERENCE TO CONTRACEPTIVE USE AMONG CANADIAN WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE: RESULTS OF A NATIONAL SURVEY

Abstract

Objectives Evidence concerning contraceptive adherence may help guide clinical and public health programs and policies. The objectives were to characterize contraceptive and adherence for Canadian women of reproductive age. Methods A standardized, confidential, Internet questionnaire was administered to a nationally representative cohort of reproductive age women. Consistency of was calculated by age group, marital status, province, urban versus rural residence, education, employment status, and income level and were weighted to correspond to regional and age distributions of Canadian women. The chi-square test was to detect within-group differences for consistency of contraceptive use. Multivariate logistic regression analyses explored the effect of demographic factors on consistency of contraceptive use. Results 2548 women were eligible for analysis. Only 60.4% of respondents who were sexually active and not trying to conceive “always used” contraception; 13% never used contraception. Always use decreased with increasing age. There were significantdifferences in consistency of by age (p Conclusions A large percentage of sexually active Canadian women who do not wish to conceive don't a contraceptive method consistently thus putting them at risk of unintended pregnancy.