Some aspects of adherence to combined hormonal contraception in young women

Abstract

Introduction. In addition to being protective against unwanted pregnancies, combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) can improve health and quality of life of women. The awareness of Russian women about CHCs is 85 %, however, only 13 % of women in Russia have a long-term experience with CHCs. This is why, it is essential to analyse drivers of adherence of young women to CHCs, and the reasons for refusal of them. Aim. Identification of the reasons affecting adherence to СHС in young women. Materials and methods. Group 1 consisted of 36 women who have tried using СHС, but stopped taking: 1A (19 women) – up to 1 year, 1B (17 women) – from 1 to 3 years; group 2 – 35 women who have never used СHС. Results. The level of education in group 2 was significantly lower, patients with secondary general education prevailed. Despite the high awareness of the benefits of СHС, the number of real users of these drugs was only 50.7 %, while half of them used CHС for 9 months on average. The refusal to use СHС in group 2 was motivated by the possible development of side effects, the lack of need for regular contraception, which requires improvement of counseling on using СHС, taking into account the characteristics of the contingent of patients. The reason for the rejection of СHС in groups 1A and 1B, regardless of the duration of use, was side effects in 42.1 and 47.1 % of cases, respectively, which included: headaches, decreased libido; nausea, epigastric pain, intermenstrual spotting, weight gain, emotional lability. Conclusion. Taking into account the level of education of patients and their needs, high-quality structured counseling when choosing a method of contraception will increase compliance with the use of СHСs, increase the frequency and duration of using СHСs.