Correlates of continuity in contraceptive use: a review of research needs.

This paper discusses the need for social and behavioral research in the growing number of settings in which an understanding of the determinants of continuity of use is a matter of central policy significance. While much descriptive research has been conducted the literature on contraceptive use-dynamics is diffuse unsystematic and theoretical. Work has been addressed principally to fielding controlled clinical trials of contraceptive devices or pharmaceuticals rather than deriving inferences about the social determinants of contraceptive behavior. Yet variability in continuity of contraceptive practice is often largely independent of the degree of intrinsic effectiveness of the methods that are employed and more strongly determined by characteristics of users. The authors review research on contraceptive continuation and present an analytical framework for characterizing the role of various determinants. They review methodological implications of this framework and summarize future research needs.