English
norskDecreasing trends in number of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate starters in Norway - a cross-sectional study
Permanent link
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/14599
Date
2017-11-20Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Abstract
Introduction - In this study, we examined changes in depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) prescriptions over a time‐period when new professions started prescribing, and when the method gained some negative media attention.
Material and methods - The Norwegian Prescription Database provided data on hormonal contraception from 2006 through 2012. We estimated the annual number of DMPA users by calculating doses sold per day/1000 women and calculated, for each contraceptive method on annual basis, a proportion of defined daily doses of all hormonal contraceptives in five‐year age groups at reproductive age. All analyses were done in SPSS, version 22, with Chi‐square test, t‐test, and survival analysis with p < 0.05 as significance level.
Results - There were minor differences in overall DMPA use during the study years. The take‐out rate was equivalent to 11–12/1000 women aged 15–49 years. DMPA sales amounted to nearly 4% of all daily doses of hormonal contraceptives sold. General practitioners and physicians without a specialty were the major prescribers. The number of starters decreased by nearly 40% during the study years and was consistent across age groups. The average use duration among starters was 17.7 (95% CI 17.5–17.9) months (range 0–90). There were minor changes in the relative proportion of long‐term users beyond 24 months during the study years.
Conclusions - DMPA plays a minor role in the overall use of hormonal contraception in Norway, even among teenagers. The number of starters is decreasing, indicating a more restrictive attitude toward first use, especially among general practitioners.
Material and methods - The Norwegian Prescription Database provided data on hormonal contraception from 2006 through 2012. We estimated the annual number of DMPA users by calculating doses sold per day/1000 women and calculated, for each contraceptive method on annual basis, a proportion of defined daily doses of all hormonal contraceptives in five‐year age groups at reproductive age. All analyses were done in SPSS, version 22, with Chi‐square test, t‐test, and survival analysis with p < 0.05 as significance level.
Results - There were minor differences in overall DMPA use during the study years. The take‐out rate was equivalent to 11–12/1000 women aged 15–49 years. DMPA sales amounted to nearly 4% of all daily doses of hormonal contraceptives sold. General practitioners and physicians without a specialty were the major prescribers. The number of starters decreased by nearly 40% during the study years and was consistent across age groups. The average use duration among starters was 17.7 (95% CI 17.5–17.9) months (range 0–90). There were minor changes in the relative proportion of long‐term users beyond 24 months during the study years.
Conclusions - DMPA plays a minor role in the overall use of hormonal contraception in Norway, even among teenagers. The number of starters is decreasing, indicating a more restrictive attitude toward first use, especially among general practitioners.
Description
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Roksvaag, I. & Skjeldestad, F.E. (2018). Decreasing trends in number of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate starters in Norway - a cross-sectional study. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 97(2), 151-157, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/aogs.13262. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.