Long-acting reversible contraception: a practical solution to reduce unintended pregnancy

Abstract

Unintended pregnancy remains a significant global public health problem; 41% of all pregnancies worldwide in 2008 were unintended. The unintended pregnancy rate is greater in less developed regions (57 per 1000 women aged 15-44 years) than in more developed regions (42 per 1000), with the United States a notable exception at a rate of 52 per 1000 women. Among US women, nearly half of unintended pregnancies are due to incorrect or inconsistent use of a contraceptive method. Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) includes the intrauterine device and subdermal implant and offers the potential to address the problem of unintended pregnancy. LARC is extremely safe and over 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. In real-world tests LARC methods were over 20 times more effective at preventing unintended pregnancy (HRadj=21.8, 95% confidence interval, 13.7 to 34.9) compared to the contraceptive pill, patch, or ring. Despite their level of effectiveness, less than 15% of contracepting women worldwide use LARC. LARC are only infrequently contraindicated, even among younger and nulliparous women. Instead education, access, and cost are the primary barriers. In a US study of nearly 10000 women aged 14-45 years, when the three barriers were removed 75% of study participants chose a LARC method. As a result, the study reported an 80% reduction in teen births and 75% reduction in abortions among women in the cohort compared to national statistics. If we are serious about reducing unintended pregnancy, we need to be serious about increasing the use of methods that we know work. Greater LARC use and continuation has been proven to effectively reduce unintended pregnancy, including abortion and teen pregnancy.