Open AccessA survey of contraceptive use and unplanned pregnancy in Perth, Western Australia
Author(s) -
Webb Sandra,
Holman D'Arcy
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
australian journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1035-7319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.1992.tb00085.x
Subject(s) - medicine , vasectomy , family planning , tubal ligation , condom , pill , obstetrics , gynecology , pregnancy , sterilization (economics) , developed country , population , demography , family medicine , research methodology , environmental health , syphilis , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , sociology , biology , genetics , pharmacology , monetary economics , economics , foreign exchange market , foreign exchange
Contraceptive use and unplanned pregnancy were studied in a stratified cluster sample of 1 511 couples with women aged 16 to 44 years resident in metropolitan Perth in 1988. Twenty‐one couples were excluded from analysis owing to missing data. The proportion of couples using contraception was 76.8 per cent (1 144 of 1 490), and all but three of the remaining couples gave a reason for nonuse. Among users, surgical sterilisation made up 42.3 per cent (484 of 1 144) of all methods, with a slight predominance of tubal ligation over vasectomy. Oral contraceptives accounted for just over half of nonsurgical methods. Comparisons with a Victorian survey performed in 1978 suggested that surgical methods and condom use may have increased, whereas use of oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices may have fallen. Unplanned pregnancies conceived during the 12 months before the interview affected 3.4 percent (51 of 1 490) of respondents. The incidence of unplanned pregnancy was four times higher in couples with inconsistent usage patterns of contraception.