Jim Shelton's Pearls

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June 05, 2006

Client understanding of effectiveness

I can see that effectiveness is very important to women in choosing a method of contraception. But do clients have a good understanding of the effectiveness of the various contraceptive methods?

Unfortunately no. Knowledge about contraceptive effectiveness seems to be not very good among many clients. For example in that study I mention in the last Pearl, only 35% of respondents in India and 58% in Jamaica knew that oral contraceptives were more effective than condoms.

And the concept of percent annual failure rates appears difficult for many to understand as well.

References:
Steiner MJ, Trussell J, Mehta N, Condon S, Subramaniam S, Bourne D. Communicating contraceptive effectiveness: A randomized controlled trial to inform a World Health Organization family planning handbook. A J Ob Gyn 2006

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The "Pearls" offer answers to commonly asked questions about family planning. These "Pearls" are prepared by Dr. James D. Shelton, Senior Medical Scientist, Office of Population, United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

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