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Counselling to include tailored use of combined oral contraception in clinical practice: an evaluation

Akintomide, H; Rank, KM; Brima, N; McGregor, F; Stephenson, J; (2018) Counselling to include tailored use of combined oral contraception in clinical practice: an evaluation. BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health , 44 (1) pp. 37-42. 10.1136/jfprhc-2017-101736. Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Combined oral contraception (COC, 'the pill') remains the most prescribed method of contraception in the UK. Although a variety of regimens for taking monophasic COC are held to be clinically safe, women are not routinely counselled about these choices and there is a lack of evidence on how to provide this information to women. AIM: To assess the usefulness and feasibility of including tailored use of monophasic COC within routine COC counselling in a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service using a structured format. METHOD: Using a structured format, healthcare professionals (HCPs) counselled new and established COC users attending an SRH service about standard and tailored ways of taking the pill. Questionnaires were used to survey both the HCPs and patients immediately after the initial consultation, and then the patients again 8 weeks later. RESULTS: Nearly all patients (98%, n=95) felt it was helpful to be informed of the different ways of using monophasic COC by the HCP, without giving too much information at one time (96%, n=108). The HCPs were confident of their COC counselling (99%, n=110) and did not think the consultations took significantly longer (88%, n=98). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that information on different pill taking regimens is useful and acceptable to patients, and can improve contraceptive pill user choice. It is also feasible for HCPs to perform COC counselling to include tailored pill use during routine consultations in a clinical setting.

Type: Article
Title: Counselling to include tailored use of combined oral contraception in clinical practice: an evaluation
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1136/jfprhc-2017-101736
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1136/jfprhc-2017-101736
Language: English
Additional information: © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted. This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Combined oral contraception (COC), counselling, pill taking, tailored
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL EGA Institute for Womens Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10044012
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