Contraceptive Failure in the United States: A Critical Review of the Literature

Abstract

The overall goal of this paper is to provide for the first time a comprehensive critical review of the literature on contraceptive failure in developed countries, primarily the United States. The first two sections of our paper lay the groundwork for a critical assessment of the extensive body of studies on this subject, by systematically exploring the concepts and measurement of contraceptive efficacy and the methodological pitfalls that snare many investigators and compromise their results. The next two sections focus on results in the literature. First we provide a method-by-method critique of the available studies and then we summarize our conclusions in a single table that provides efficacy information necessary for women and couples to make an informed choice of a method of contraception. We close with a set of substantive observations and also a set of methodological recommendations intended to improve the quality and comparability of findings from future research.

Efectividad Clínica Del Método Mucotérmico Para Regular La Fertilidad: Resultados De Un Programa Aplicado en La Comuna De San Bernardo

“…Se evaluó la efectividad del uso del método utilizando la tabla de sobrevida con decremento simple que a diferencia del índice de Pearl, controla la variable tiempo de duración de uso, permitiendo una comparación más adecuada entre diversas series (15). Nuestros resultados mostraron una efectividad de 94,3 % a 12 meses.…”

Terminology in Natural Family Planning Revisited

“…The Trussell and Kost computation separates perfect use from typical use cycles and calculates rates separately. 2 Using any computation, "perfect use" pregnancies with Natural Family Planning are very low, ranging from 0 -2.8%.3 A debate arises in categorizing unplanned pregnancies which resulted from a "conscious departure from the rules." These "informed choice pregnancies" may stem from a variety of motives: the motivation to avoid pregnancy may not be as strong as the desire for intercourse for any number of reasons.…”

Lessons From the Dot Contraceptive Efficacy Study: Analysis of the Use of Agile Development to Improve Recruitment and Enrollment for mHealth Research (Preprint)

“…It is designed to follow the standard guidelines for establishing contraceptive efficacy [4,5], and it takes into account the recommendations for efficacy studies of fertility awareness methods made by Trussell and Kost [4]. We adapted the study design to the digital context and integrated participant engagement recommendations from other successful mHealth studies [6,7].…”