Due to medical advances and research, there are many
different types of contraceptives today with varied effectiveness as to
prevention of pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Different
contraceptives also have varied lengths of time over which they are effective.
Oddly enough, the types of contraceptives with the highest prevention rates and
longest time of effectiveness are used the least.
A phone survey was completed by parents of daughters ages
12 to 17 that determined their attitudes towards different forms of
contraceptives. According to the study,
condoms and birth control pills are the most used/preferred forms of
contraceptives, even though they are the least effective methods and have very
short times of use. Injectable contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, and
birth control patches come in next in popularity and are slightly better as far
as both effectiveness and length of time of use are concerned. Finally,
implants and intrauterine devices come in last in popularity, even though they
are the best forms of prevention according to research. It was concluded from
the study that “the strongest predictor of acceptability of all methods was
parental recognition of their teens’ autonomy." Researchers believe one
major that reason parents are less accepting of longer-acting methods is
because they associate the long acting contraception with an ongoing sexual
relationship.
Another study was done over which age groups used which
type of contraceptive more and while the results were still the same as far as
preferences go, it found that women above their teens were much more likely to
use long-acting contraceptives like implants and intrauterine devices than teenage
girls probably due to the fact that teenage girls are generally less
knowledgeable about different types of prevention and have misconceptions, lack
of familiarity, high cost, and lack of access. The committee that performed the
research suggested referral to a public clinic as an option for teenagers,
addressing the problems of cost, insurance coverage, and confidentiality.
References
Dawson, Milly. “Parents Prefer
Some, Often Less-Effective, Birth Control Methods for Teens.” Journal of
Adolescent Health (2012). Cfah.org.Web.2 Oct.2012.
Bankhead, Charles. “IUDS,
Implants Best Teen Birth Control, ACOG Says.” MedPage Today (2012).
Medpagetoday.com.Web.2 Oct. 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment