Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T05:01:21.144Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Predicting contraceptive method usage among women in West Scotland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Kate Hunt  and
Ellen Annandale
Kate Hunt
Affiliation:
MRC Medical Sociology Unit, Glasgow
Ellen Annandale
Affiliation:
MRC Medical Sociology Unit, Glasgow
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Users of the six major methods of contraception are compared across a broad range of variables using data from a community sample. Differences between the groups were apparent for a range of socioeconomic and reproductive variables, and current users of the various methods also differed in their past use of contraception. Users of barrier methods fared particularly well. Few differences were observed for current health status or for the sociocultural variables examined, although users of natural methods differed from all others in their religious affiliation and commitment.

Discriminant analysis showed that the most predictive variables distinguishing women who had opted for permanent methods of contraception (female sterilization and vasectomy) were the woman's stated reason for using her current method and her past contraceptive patterns; the inclusion of social, health and reproductive indicators did little to improve the prediction. It is argued that heightened expectations for contraceptive efficacy in the face of increasing concerns about long-term health consequences have contributed to the increased use of permanent methods.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , October 1990 , pp. 405 - 421
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bledin, K. D., Cooper, J. E., Mackenzie, S. & Brice, B. (1984) Contraceptive attitudes and practice in women choosing sterilisation. J. R. Coll. Gen. Pract. 34, 595.Google Scholar
Bone, M. (1985) Family Planning in Scotland in 1982. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Coulter, A. (1985) Decision-making and the pill: the consumer's view. Br. J. Fam. Plann. 11, 98.Google Scholar
Coulter, A., Vessey, M., McPherson, K. & Crossley, B. (1986) The ability of women to recall their oral contraceptive histories. Contraception, 33, 127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunnell, K. (1979) Family Formation 1976. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Ecob, R. (1987) West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: The Sampling Scheme, Frame and Procedures for the Cohort Studies. MRC Medical Sociology Unit Working Paper, No. 6. Glasgow.Google Scholar
Editorial (1985) Another look at the pill and breast cancer. Lancet, ii, 985.Google Scholar
Editorial (1989) Meeting the need for female sterilisation. Lancet, ii, ii, 1189.Google Scholar
Hunt, K. (1990) The first pill-taking generation: past and present use of contraception amongst a cohort of women born in the early 1950s. Br. J. Fam. Plann. 16, 3.Google Scholar
La Vecchia, C., Decarli, A., Parazzini, F., Gentile, A., Negri, E. & Franceschi, S. (1986) Determinants of oral contraceptive use in Northern Italy. Contraception, 34, 145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lidegaard, O., Overgaard, K. & Hauch, O. (1988) The oral contraceptive user. Acta obstet. gynec scand. 67, 27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lodewijckx, E. (1989) Recent trends in contraceptive sterilization in Flanders. J. biosoc. Sci. 21, 59.Google Scholar
Macintyre, S. (1986) The patterning of measures of health by social position in contemporary Britain: directions for sociological research. Social Sci. Med. 23, 393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macintyre, S., Annandale, E., Ecob, R., Ford, G., Hunt, K., Jamieson, B., MacIver, S., West, P. & Wyke, S. (1989) West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: health in the community. In: Readings for a New Public Health. Edited by Martin, C. & McQueen, D.. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Mant, D., Vessey, M. & Loudon, N. (1989) The characteristics of women using depot medroxy-progesterone acetate: a cancer risk profile. Br. J. Fam. Plann. 15, 116.Google Scholar
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (1980) Classification of Occupations. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (1985) General Household Survey, 1983. HM Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Paul, C., Skegg, D. C. G., Smeijers, J. & Spears, G. F. S. (1988) Contraceptive practice in New Zealand. NZ med. J. 101, 809.Google Scholar
Riphagen, F. E. & Lehert, P. (1989) A survey of contraception in five West European countries. J. biosoc. Sci. 21, 23.Google Scholar
Thomas, H. (1985) The medical construction of the contraceptive career. In: The Sexual Politics of Reproduction. Edited by Homans, H.. Gower, Aldershot.Google Scholar
Townsend, P., Davison, N. & Whitehead, M. (1988) Inequalities in Health. The Black Report and The Health Divide. Penguin, London.Google Scholar
Uk National Case-Control Study Group (1989) Oral contraceptive use and breast cancer risk in young women. Lancet, i, 973.Google Scholar
Wellings, K. (1986a) Trends in contraceptive method usage since 1970. Br. J. Fam. Plann. 12, 15.Google Scholar
Wellings, K. (1986b) Sterilisation trends. Br. med. J. 292, 1029.Google Scholar