Adolescents perception and use patterns of oral contraceptives.

This report presents the preliminary findings of a longitudinal study on adolescent womens perceptions of oral contraceptives their pill-taking behavior their decisions to discontinue use. The study sample included 500 and 441 young women under the age of 20 attending family planning clinics in Madison and Chicago respectively. Researchers interviewed the women at the clinics and conducted follow-up interviews one year later. While the follow-up calls have not yet been completed the Madison interviews are further along than the Chicago interviews. This report presents only the data for the Madison group. The only significant difference between the 2 groups was their racial composition (Madison predominantly white and Chicago predominantly black). During the initial visit 80% of the Madison group said it had heard of problems with the pill with weight gain being most commonly mentioned. The participants perceived their personal pregnancy risk to be quite high suggesting a high motivation to use the pill correctly. Yet the follow-up interviews reveal substantial pill-taking errors. Only 30% of the participants reported having taken the first 21 pills on time during each month they were on the pill. 59% reported that they had missed taking a pill on more than one occasion. Also troubling 15% of the sample reported missing the first pill of the month. Among the group who had missed the first pill most said that they had either forgotten to take the pill and another 15% had discontinued the pill for a time and had started it again. Discontinuation was primarily the result of changes in the sexual relations of the young women. The report discusses the policy and programmatic implications of the findings.