Monday, March 12, 2012

Would you drive a car or fly a plane with these failure rates?

“Polyurethane condoms are an option for those with latex allergy, although they are less effective, with a clinical failure rate of 8.4% vs 3.2% with latex condoms”; "silicone diaphragm approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a 20% failure rate"; SGIM report, 2003

Do you suppose these "postpartum" teens received any counseling after their abortions on self-worth, values of chastity or even basic hygiene and how STDs are transmitted? They most likely were underage. Was anything reported to police or their parents? Or were they just fodder for product research?

A prospective cohort study was conducted. Comparison groups were postpartum teenagers (12–18 years old) who self-selected Implanon (n=73), COCP/DMPA (n=40) and barrier/none (n=24). Questionnaires were used to gather data at recruitment and postpartum at 6 weeks and then 3 monthly intervals for 2 years.

Results

At 24 months postpartum, 48 (35%) teenagers had conceived. Implanon users became pregnant later than other contraceptive groups (p=.022), with mean time to first repeat pregnancy of 23.8 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 22.2–25.5], compared to 18.1 months (95% CI, 15.1–20.7) for COCP/DMPA and 17.6 months (95% CI, 14.0–21.3) for barrier/none. Implanon users were more likely to continue their use at 24 months than COCP/DMPA (p<.001) users. The mean duration for Implanon users was 18.7 months (95% CI, 17.0–20.3) compared to 11.9 months (95% CI, 9.5–14.3) for COCP/DMPA. Conclusion Teenagers who choose Implanon are significantly less likely to become pregnant and were found to continue with this method of contraception 24 months postpartum compared to those who choose COCP or DMPA and barrier methods or nothing. Link

No comments: