Dataset Information

Cost of unintended pregnancy in Norway: a role for long-acting reversible contraception.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The objective of this study was to quantify the cost burden of unintended pregnancies (UPs) in Norway, and to estimate the proportion of costs due to imperfect contraceptive adherence. Potential cost savings that could arise from increased uptake of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) were also investigated.

Methods

An economic model was constructed to estimate the total number of UPs and associated costs in women aged 15-24 years. Adherence-related UP was estimated using 'perfect use' and 'typical use' contraceptive failure rates. Potential savings from increased use of LARC were projected by comparing current costs to projected costs following a 5% increase in LARC uptake.

Results

Total costs from UP in women aged 15-24 years were estimated to be 164 million Norwegian Kroner (NOK), of which 81.7% were projected to be due to imperfect contraceptive adherence. A 5% increase in LARC uptake was estimated to generate cost savings of NOK 7.2 million in this group.

Conclusions

The cost of UP in Norway is substantial, with a large proportion of this cost arising from imperfect contraceptive adherence. Increased LARC uptake may reduce the UP incidence and generate cost savings for both the health care payer and contraceptive user.

SUBMITTER: Henry N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4369438 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To measure the 24-month impact on continuation, unintended pregnancy and satisfaction of trying long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) in a population seeking short-acting reversible contraception (SARC). STUDY DESIGN:We enrolled 916 women aged 18-29 who were seeking pills or injectables in a partially randomized patient preference trial. Women with strong preferences for pills or injectables started on those products, while others opted for randomization to LARC or SARC and received their methods gratis. We estimated continuation and unintended pregnancy rates through 24months. Intent-to-treat principles were applied after method initiation for comparing incidence of unintended pregnancy. We also examined how satisfaction levels varied by cohort and how baseline negative LARC attitudes were associated with satisfaction over time. RESULTS:Forty-three percent chose randomization, and 57% chose the preference option. Complete loss to follow-up was<2%. The 24-month LARC continuation probability was 64.3% [95% confidence interval (CI): 56.6-70.9], statistically higher than SARC groups [25.5% (randomized) and 40.0% (preference)]. The 24-month cumulative unintended pregnancy probabilities were 9.9% (95% CI: 7.2-12.6) (preference-SARC), 6.9% (95% CI: 3.3-10.6) (randomized-SARC) and 3.6% (95% CI: 1.8-6.4) (randomized-LARC). Statistical tests for comparing randomized groups on unintended pregnancy were mixed: binomial at 24-month time point (p=.02) and log-rank survival probabilities (p=.14 for first pregnancies and p=.07 when including second pregnancies). LARC satisfaction was high (80% happy/neutral, 73% would use LARC again, 81% would recommend to a friend). Baseline negative attitudes toward LARC (27%) were not clearly associated with satisfaction or early discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS:The decision to try LARC resulted in high continuation rates and substantial protection from unintended pregnancy over 24months. Despite participants' initial desires to begin short-acting regimens, they had high satisfaction with LARC. Voluntary decisions to try LARC will benefit large proportions of typical SARC users. IMPLICATIONS:Even women who do not necessarily view LARC as a first choice may have a highly satisfying experience and avoid unintended pregnancy if they try it.

Project description:BackgroundThe postpartum period is an opportune time for contraception adoption, as women have extended interaction with the reproductive healthcare system and therefore more opportunity to learn about and adopt contraceptive methods. This may be especially true for women who experience unintended pregnancy, a key target population for contraceptive programs and programs to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission. Among women in Zimbabwe surveyed in 2014, we examined the relationship between pregnancy intention associated with a woman's most recent pregnancy, and her subsequent postpartum contraceptive use.MethodsIn our analysis we utilized a dataset from a random selection of catchment areas in Zimbabwe to examine the association between pregnancy intention of most recent pregnancy and subsequent postpartum contraceptive use using multinomial logistic regression models. We also explored whether this association differed by women's HIV status. Finally, we examined the association between pregnancy intention and changes in contraception from the pre- to postpartum periods.ResultsFindings suggest that women who reported that their pregnancy was unintended adopted less modern (all non-traditional) contraceptive methods overall, but adopted long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) more frequently than women reporting an intended pregnancy (OR 1.41; CI 1.18, 1.68). Among HIV-positive women, this relationship was particularly strong (OR 3.12; CI 1.96, 4.97). However, when examining changes in contraceptive use from the pre-pregnancy to the postpartum period, women who had an unintended pregnancy had lower odds of changing to a more effective method postpartum overall (OR 0.71; CI 0.64, 0.79).ConclusionsWe did not find evidence of higher modern method adoption in the postpartum period among women with an unintended pregnancy. However, women who were already on a method in the pre-pregnancy period were catalyzed to move to more effective methods (such as LARC) postpartum. This study provides evidence of low modern (non-traditional) method adoption in general in the postpartum period among a vulnerable sub-population in Zimbabwe (women who experience unintended pregnancy). Simultaneously, however, it shows a relatively greater portion specifically of LARC use among women with an unintended pregnancy. Further research is needed to more closely examine the motivations behind these contraceptive decisions in order to better inform distribution and counseling programs.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:To compare the proportion of women receiving same-day long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) between two different models of contraceptive provision adapted from the Contraceptive CHOICE Project. STUDY DESIGN:We used a controlled time-trend study design to compare 502 women receiving structured contraceptive counseling in addition to usual care ("Enhanced Care") to 506 women receiving counseling plus healthcare provider education and cost support for LARC ("Complete CHOICE") at three federally qualified health centers. We provided funds to health centers to ensure an "on-the-shelf" supply and no-cost LARC for uninsured women. We recorded the contraceptive method chosen after contraceptive counseling and the healthcare provider appointment as well as the contraceptive method received that day. Among women choosing LARC, we calculated proportions and performed Poisson regression with robust error variance to estimate relative risks for same-day insertion. RESULTS:Participant demographics reflected the health center populations; 69% were black, 66% had a high school diploma or less, 57% were publicly insured, and 75% reported household income less than 101% federal poverty line. There were 153 (30.5%) women in "Enhanced Care" and 273 (54.0%) in "Complete CHOICE" who chose LARC (p<0.01). Among women who chose LARC (n=426), those in "Complete CHOICE" were more likely to receive a same-day insertion, 53.8% vs. 13.7% (RRadj 4.73; 95%CI 3.20-6.98) compared to "Enhanced Care." CONCLUSIONS:A contraceptive care model that included healthcare provider education and cost support for LARC in addition to structured contraceptive counseling resulted in higher rates of same-day LARC insertion compared to contraceptive counseling and usual care alone. IMPLICATIONS:Contraceptive care provision which includes contraceptive counseling, healthcare provider education, and "on-the-shelf", long-acting reversible contraception facilitate same-day initiation of these methods. Interventions that focus solely on contraceptive counseling do not address other structural barriers to same-day contraceptive provision of all methods including cost and provider practice.

Project description:ObjectivesTo calculate the prevalence and identify correlates of unmet need for contraception and to assess whether prevalence of use of effective contraception and long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) has changed over time among married or cohabiting, reproductive-age women in Vietnam.MethodsStudy population was drawn from nationally representative Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys conducted in 2000, 2006, 2011 and 2014. Unmet need for contraception was defined as occurring when a fecund, married or cohabiting woman is not using any method of contraception but either does not want children or wants to delay birth for at least 1 year or until marriage. Following the ranking of method effectiveness by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we defined "effective contraception" as implant, intrauterine device, male and female sterilization, injectable, pill, patch, ring or diaphragm. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify correlates of unmet need for contraception in 2014 and Cochran-Armitage trend tests to assess changes in effective contraception and LARC use from 2000 to 2014. All analyses used survey weights to account for the complex sampling design.ResultsIn 2014, 4.3% of married or cohabiting, reproductive-age women had unmet need for contraception. Multivariable analysis showed that age, education and number of children ever born were statistically significant correlates of unmet need for contraception. Use of effective contraception statistically significantly declined from 53.0% in 2000 to 45.7% in 2014 (p<.0001). Similarly, LARC declined from 39.6% in 2000 to 30.0% in 2014 (p<.0001). After adjusting for age, education, residence and having at least one son, these secular trends remained.ConclusionFindings indicate that effective contraception and LARC use have decreased among married or cohabiting women of reproductive age in Vietnam. Correlates of unmet need for contraception should be used to inform interventions to prevent unintended pregnancy.ImplicationsAlthough the prevalence of unmet need for contraception was low (4.3%) in 2014, the use of effective contraception and long-acting reversible contraception declined among reproductive-age, married or cohabiting women in Vietnam from 2000 to 2014. This finding is particularly striking given the economic growth in the nation during this time frame.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Today, there are various short- and long-acting contraceptive alternatives available for those who wish to prevent unintended pregnancy. Long-acting reversible contraception are considered effective methods with a high user satisfaction. High-quality information about contraception is essential in order to empower individuals to reach informed decisions based on sufficient knowledge. Use of the Web for information about contraception is widespread, and there is a risk that those who use it for this purpose could come in contact with sources of low quality. OBJECTIVE:The overarching aim was to investigate the quality of websites about long-acting reversible contraception. METHODS:Swedish client-oriented websites were identified through searches in Google (n = 46 included websites). Reliability and information about long-acting reversible contraceptive choices were assessed by two assessors with the DISCERN instrument, transparency was analyzed with the Journal of the American Medical Association benchmarks, completeness was assessed with inductive content analysis and readability was analyzed with Readability Index. RESULTS:The mean DISCERN was 44.1/80 (SD 7.7) for total score, 19.7/40 (SD 3.7) for reliability, 22.1/35 (SD 4.1) for information about long-acting reversible contraceptive choices, and 2.3/5 (SD 1.1) for overall quality. A majority of the included websites had low quality with regard to what sources were used to compile the information (n = 41/46, 89%), when the information was produced (n = 40/46, 87%), and if it provided additional sources of support and information (n = 30/46, 65%). Less than half of the websites adhered to any of the JAMA benchmarks. We identified 23 categories of comprehensiveness. The most frequent was contraceptive mechanism (n = 39/46, 85%) and the least frequent was when contraception may be initiated following an abortion (n = 3/46, 7%). The mean Readability Index was 42.5 (SD 6.3, Range 29-55) indicating moderate to difficult readability levels, corresponding to a grade level of 9. CONCLUSIONS:The quality of client-oriented websites about long-acting reversible contraception is poor. There is an undeniable need to support and guide laypersons that intend to use web-based sources about contraceptive alternatives, so that they may reach informed decisions based on sufficient knowledge.