Pharmacist interest in and attitudes toward direct pharmacy access to hormonal contraception in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To assess pharmacist interest, comfort level, and perceived barriers regarding providing pharmacist-initiated access to hormonal contraceptives (i.e., tablets, patches, rings, injectables, emergency contraception [EC]). DESIGN: Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study. SETTING: United States between November 2004 and January 2005. PARTICIPANTS: 2,725 pharmacists working in community chain pharmacies (64%), community independent pharmacy (31%), and other practice settings, including hospitals and home care facilities (5%). INTERVENTION: Survey sent electronically by the American Pharmacists Association to a random sample of 14,142 of its 50,000 pharmacist members nationally. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pharmacist interest and comfort level in providing pharmacy access to hormonal contraception (HC), perceived barriers and training needs, and familiarity with and provision of EC. RESULTS: 2,725 survey responses (19% response rate) were received. Pharmacists reported being very familiar with HC. The majority of respondents were comfortable and interested in providing direct access to HC in the pharmacy. Perceived barriers to providing HC in the pharmacy included lack of time, no mechanism of reimbursement for the service, and possible resistance from physicians. CONCLUSION: Strong interest, comfort level, and capability from pharmacists, combined with a documented demand for direct pharmacy access from patients, indicate that pharmacy access to HC has the potential to meet patient needs and increase access to HC. Education about current clinical practice recommendations-which no longer require pelvic examinations and Papanicolaou (Pap) smears before hormonal contraception is initiated-may increase pharmacist support for providing hormonal methods directly.

Pharmacy access to emergency contraception in California.

CONTEXT: California is one of eight states that allow a woman to obtain emergency contraceptives from a pharmacy without a physician prescription. Because many women do not know about emergency contraception or direct pharmacy access, it is important to understand barriers to getting the method and women's reasons for choosing the pharmacy option. METHODS: In a 2004 survey at 25 predominantly independent pharmacies across California that offered pharmacy access, 426 women completed questionnaires after obtaining emergency contraceptives. They were asked about their reasons for seeking the method, the time of unprotected intercourse, barriers to access, how they learned about pharmacy access and their reasons for choosing it. Chi-square tests and analysis of variance were used to assess differences between subgroups. RESULTS: Eighty-six percent of women wanted emergency contraceptives for immediate use, and women obtained the method an average of 36 hours after unprotected intercourse. Those younger than 16, those who had had unprotected sex on the weekend and those who were embarrassed to ask for the method or who did not know about it all took a longer time to get the medication than did their respective comparison groups. Women who chose pharmacy access did so because they thought it was faster (54%) and more convenient (47%) than seeking a physician prescription. The majority reported that talking to a pharmacist was very helpful (84%) and that it was very important to be able to get the method directly from a pharmacy (81%). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing women's knowledge about emergency contraception and its availability directly from pharmacies has the potential to improve the effectiveness of this contraceptive method by reducing the time interval between unprotected intercourse and initiation of treatment.

Birth control within reach: a national survey on women's attitudes toward and interest in pharmacy access to hormonal contraception.

OBJECTIVE: This survey was conducted to better understand women's experiences with hormonal contraception and their interest in and attitudes toward gaining direct access to oral contraception (OC), patch, ring or emergency contraception (EC) in pharmacies. METHOD: A nationally representative telephone survey of 811 women aged 18-44 years who were at risk for unintended pregnancy was conducted in the United States. RESULTS: It was found that 68% of women in the United States said they would use pharmacy access to OC, patch, ring and/or EC. Likely users include women not using contraception who would begin using hormonal contraceptives (41%) if they were available directly in pharmacies, and OC, patch or ring users who were interested in obtaining their method this way (66%). Over half of the women (55%) said they would be more likely to use EC if they were available directly in pharmacies. Interest in pharmacy access is higher among uninsured and low-income women. Support for pharmacy access hinges on pharmacist screening, with 63% of women agreeing that OC, patch and ring should be available without prescription if pharmacists screen women for medically safe use. CONCLUSION: Most women in the United States believe that hormonal contraception should be available without prescription and would personally use pharmacy access. Seventeen to 22 million women constitute the potential market for pharmacy access to hormonal contraceptives in the United States. Women's enthusiasm for pharmacy access suggests that the pharmacy is an important site for the provision of sexual health education, screening and supplies.