Covid-19 Pandemisi Sırasında Kadınların Kontraseptif Yöntem Kullanım Değişimlerinin ve Memnuniyetlerinin Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Objective: In addition to being a global epidemic, Coronavirus disease creates some disruptions in the health system, especially in family planning services. Our study aimed to assess the contraceptive method preferences of female patients who applied to our university hospital, their satisfaction levels, and whether their method usage had changed due to the pandemic.Material and Methods: We included 286 female patients aged 18-49 who were admitted to our obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinic between January 2021 and April 2021 in our study. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study to identify women's contraceptive method preferences, complaints about the method, and usage information before and during the pandemic.Results: While 187 (65.4%) of 286 women participating in our study used modern and traditional family planning methods, 99 (34.6%) did not use any method. We found a statistically significant decrease in the use of oral contraceptives during the pandemic (p=0.041). While the number of women who did not use any method before the pandemic was 83 (29%), 99 (34.6%) women did not use any method during the pandemic.Conclusion: Family planning service is one of the foremost sexual and reproductive health services. The factors such as social distance, isolation at home, and increased stress during the pandemic have increased the need for sexual and reproductive health services. Moreover, movement restrictions and clinical closures make sexual and reproductive health services, including birth control, less accessible. All of these conditions will raise the number of erroneous, unplanned, and undesired pregnancies. In our study, the most preferred method of contraception was found to be condoms (27.3%), while the least used method was injectable contraceptive (1.4%). Clinicians should counsel women on contraception options in the event that further social distancing measures are implemented.