Despite the high contraceptive effectiveness of many hormonal and intrauterine reversible contraceptive methods, many HCPs, users and potential users are concerned mainly about side effects and safety of both hormonal and non-hormonal contraceptive methods, and there is scarce information about the many benefits that these methods offer beyond contraception.

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The coadministration of EFV decreased the bioavailability of ENG released from the implant, which could impair contraceptive efficacy. However, the coadministration of LPV/r increased the bioavailability of ENG released from the implant, which suggests that this antiretroviral combination does not impair the ENG implant efficacy.

The study was partially funded by the Fundação de Apoio a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) grant # 2012/01379-0, the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) grant #573747/2008-3 and by Merck (MSD), Brazil under an unrestricted grant. The LNG-IUS were donated by the International Contraceptive Access Foundation (ICA) and the copper IUD by Injeflex, São Paulo, Brazil. L.B. has occasionally served on the Board of MSD, Bayer and Vifor.

BackgroundImproving maternal health is one of the Millennium Development Goals for 2015. Recently some progress has been achieved in reducing mortality. On the other hand, in developed regions, maternal death is a relatively rare event compared to the number of cases of morbidity; hence studying maternal morbidity has become more relevant. Electronic surveillance systems may improve research by facilitating complete data reporting and reducing the time required for data collection and analysis. Therefore the purpose of this study was to describe the methods used in elaborating and implementing the National Network for the Surveillance of Severe Maternal Morbidity in Brazil.MethodsThe project consisted of a multicenter, cross-sectional study for the surveillance of severe maternal morbidity including near-miss, in Brazil.ResultsFollowing the development of a conceptual framework, centers were selected for inclusion in the network, consensus meetings were held among the centers, an electronic data collection system was identified, specific software and hardware tools were developed, research material was prepared, and the implementation process was initiated and analyzed.ConclusionThe conceptual framework developed for this network was based on the experience acquired in various studies carried out in the area over recent years and encompasses maternal and perinatal health. It is innovative especially in the context of a developing country. The implementation of the project represents the first step towards this planned management. The system online elaborated for this surveillance network may be used in further studies in reproductive and perinatal health.

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Fatores associados à descontinuação do uso de anticoncepcionais orais combinados Associated factors with discontinuation use of combined oral contraceptives Artigo originalResumo OBJETIVO: Avaliar as razões para descontinuar diversos anticoncepcionais orais combinados entre mulheres brasileiras iniciantes do método, residentes em áreas urbanas. MÉTODOS: Estudo de corte transversal com 400 ginecologistas do Brasil, registrados na Federação Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. Cada médico entrevistou 10 mulheres não grávidas, não lactantes, não em amenorreia, com idades entre 18 e 39 anos que consultavam solicitando anticoncepcional oral combinado (ACO), com um questionário no início de uso e aos 6 meses posteriores. O questionário incluiu dados sociodemográficos, tipo de ACO escolhido ou prescrito e razões para descontinuação, caso ocorresse durante o seguimento. A estratégia de seleção permitiu a inclusão de mulheres de diferentes estratos socioeconômicos, mas somente atendidas em consultórios privados ou de convênios. O tamanho da amostra foi estimado em 1.427 mulheres. RESULTADOS: Foram obtidas 3.465 entrevistas na primeira visita e 1.699 aos 6 meses posteriores. As mulheres tinham predominantemente entre 20 e 29 anos, 57,3% eram solteiras e em proporção quase igual de 45% tinham ensino médio ou superior. A maioria (60,7%) era nuligestas e dentre as que tinham usado algum método contraceptivo anteriormente, 71,8% tinham utilizado ACO. Entre os ACO mais prescritos ou escolhidos, o mais prevalente foram os monofásicos com etinilestradiol (20 µg) e no tocante ao progestágeno, o mais prevalente foi com gestodeno (36,5%), seguido por ACO com drosperinona (22,0%). Aos 6 meses, 63,5% continuavam em uso do ACO. Dentre as que descontinuaram o uso, as principais razões dadas foram: desejo de engravidar (36,5%) e efeitos colaterais (57,3%) como cefaléia (37,6%), aumento de peso (16,6%) e sangramento irregular (23,6%). CONCLUSÕES: A taxa de continuação do uso de ACO foi baixa aos seis meses e este estudo pode contribuir para que os médicos orientem melhor suas pacientes iniciantes no uso de ACO sobre os eventos adversos esperados que são mínimos e temporários e sobre os benefícios não contraceptivos dos ACO.Abstract PURPOSE: Due to the scarce information available in Brazil in relation to the number of women who initiated the use of combined oral contraceptives and prematurely discontinued, the objective was to assess the reasons for discontinuation of the use of several combined oral contraceptives among Brazilian women living in urban areas. METHODS: A crosssectional study with 400 gynecologists registered withy the Brazilian Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Each physician interviewed 10 non-pregnant, not breastfeeding, not amenorrheic women aged 18 to 39 years who consulted requesting combined oral contraceptive (COC) with a questionnaire at the beginning of use and at six months later. The questionnaire included sociodemographic data, type of COC chosen or prescribed and reasons for discontinuation w...

This study received partial financial support from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), grant # 2012/12810-4 and from the National Research Council (CNPq), grant #573747/2008-3. B.F.B., M.P.G., and V.M.C. were fellows from the scientific initiation programme from FAPESP. Since the year 2001, all the TCu380A IUD were donated by Injeflex, São Paulo, Brazil, and from the year 2006 all the LNG-IUS were donated by the International Contraceptive Access Foundation (ICA), Turku, Finland. Both donations are as unrestricted grants. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this study.