"I think maybe 10 years seems a bit long." Beliefs and attitudes of women who had never used intrauterine contraception

Walker, Susan H., Newton, Victoria, Hoggart, Lesley and Parker, Michael (2018) "I think maybe 10 years seems a bit long." Beliefs and attitudes of women who had never used intrauterine contraception. BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, 44 (2). pp. 90-96. ISSN 2515-1991

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Abstract

Aim: To explore, in general practice settings the concerns, beliefs and attitudes about intrauterine contraception reported by women, who had never used the methods. Method: We used a sequential mixed-method (QUAL/quant) approach. A pragmatic, self-selecting sample of thirty women, aged 18-46 years, who had never used intrauterine contraception (IUC), was recruited through seven general practices in South East England. Themes arising from qualitative interviews were used to construct a quantitative survey, completed by a pragmatic sample of 1195 women, aged between 18-49 years, attending thirty-two general practices in the same region, between February and August 2015. Findings: Qualitative themes were concerns about the long acting nature of IUC, concerns about bodily boundaries, and informal knowledge of IUC, especially “friend of a friend” stories. Women were not sure if the devices could be removed before their full 5 or 10 year duration, and felt that these timeframes did not fit with their reproductive intentions. Quantitative survey data showed that the most commonly endorsed concerns among never-users were painful fitting (55.8%), unpleasant removal of the device (60.1%), and concern about having a device ‘inside me’ (60.2%). Conclusions: To facilitate fully informed contraceptive choice, information provided to women considering IUC should be tailored to address the concerns expressed by never-users, particularly around the details of insertion and removal, and concerns about adverse long-term effects of the device. Women need to be reassured that IUC can be removed and fertility restored at any time following insertion.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Keywords:	intra-uterine contraception, general practice, barriers, attitudes, knowledge, beliefs
Faculty:	ARCHIVED Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education (until September 2018)
Depositing User:	Dr Susan H Walker
Date Deposited:	24 Jan 2018 16:16
Last Modified:	10 Feb 2022 10:20
URI:	https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/702558

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