[Continuous/extended/flexible use of combined hormonal contraceptives: Prescribing habits of practitioners in Centre Val deLoire region]. / Prescription de contraception æstro-progestative en schéma continu/étendu/flexible : étude de pratique professionnelle dans la région Centre Val de Loire.

OBJECTIVES: To date, oral contraceptives remain the most frequently prescribed contraceptive method. New combined oral contraceptive (COC) regimens (continued, extended or flexible) were developed to try and space out or avoid withdrawal bleedings in order to meet women's expectations and improve their quality of life. However, there is no recommendation published regarding the management of the prescription. The purpose of our study was to describe provider's prescription habits when it comes to new COC regimens. METHODS: This is a descriptive observational study. A questionnaire was sent to gynecologists, general practitioners and midwives employed or in training in the Centre Valde Loire region. Prescription habits and knowledge about new oral contraceptive regimens were evaluated. RESULTS: 83% of health professionals frequently prescribed new COC regimens. Most frequent indications were endometriosis, severe menstruation-associated symptoms, patient's desire for amenorrhea or patient's request. The extended regimen (hormone-free interval not every month) was the most frequently used. Provider's knowledge about indications and benefits of those new regimens were satisfactory. However, scientific societies guidelines were poorly acquired. CONCLUSIONS: New COC regimens are frequently proposed by health care professionals with large variability in terms of prescription model. Along with reinforcement of COC prescription guidelines for healthcare professionals, further researches are needed to better understand differences in tolerability and acceptability in terms of quality of life of the several potential regimens.

Accuracy of dry vaginal self-sampling for detecting high-risk human papillomavirus infection in cervical cancer screening: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Cervical cancer screening coverage remains insufficient in most countries. Testing self-collected samples for high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) could be an alternative to the Pap smear, but costs, sampling methods and transport issues hamper its wide use. Our objective was to compare diagnostic accuracy of 2 vaginal self-collection methods, a dry swab (vsc-DRY) or swab in liquid medium (vsc-LIQ), for detecting HR-HPV cervical infection assessed by a cervical clinician-collected sample in liquid medium (ccc-LIQ). METHODS: Women 20 to 65 years attending a Pap smear were recruited between September, 2009 and March, 2011. Each sample (3 per woman) underwent HPV DNA testing. Samples were classified as HR-HPV+ with detection of at least one HR-HPV or probable HR-HPV type. RESULTS: Of 734 women included, 722 had complete HPV data. HR-HPV was detected in 20.9% of ccc-LIQ samples. Estimated sensitivity and specificity to detect HR-HPV in vsc-DRY samples were 88.7% and 92.5%, respectively, and in vsc-LIQ samples, 87.4% and 90.9%. Cytology findings were abnormal for 79 women (10.9%): among 27 samples of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, 25 were HR-HPV+ in vsc-DRY, vsc-LIQ and ccc-LIQ samples. Among 6 samples of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, all were HR-HPV+ in vsc-DRY samples, 1 was HR-HPV- in vsc-LIQ samples and 1 was HR-HPV- in ccc-LIQ samples. CONCLUSIONS: Vaginal self-sampling with a dry swab is accurate to detect HR-HPV infection as compared with cervical clinician-collection and accurate as compared with cytology results. This cheap and easy-to-ship sampling method could be widely used in a cervical cancer screening program.

[Intra-uterine device and nulliparous women]. / Dispositif intra-utérin et nulliparité.

Intra-uterine device (IUD) is one of the birth control methods, which is available for nulliparous women, even though misconceptions still remain in medical or popular opinion. Only 1.3 % of nulliparous have a IUD as contraception in France while it is the second methods used by all women, after pill. The best contraception is the one chosen by women; however, the choice for a nulliparous of an IUD may be really difficult, despite the increasing number of women wishing to use it. Long-acting reversible contraceptives utilization, including IUD, is probably one of the issues to decrease the unintended pregnancies. An exhaustive and clear information about IUD is necessary to allow an informed and real choice. This prescription must consider contraindications and medical conditions for safe insertion, especially to avoid infection by screening STD (Chlamydia trachomatis and Nesseria gonorrhoeae) in nulliparous women<25 years old. Insertion must be effected with usual precautions and short or SL IUD preferred. Even if side effects such as expulsion, pelvic pains or dysmenorrhea are more frequent by nulliparous, IUD is a first intention choice for contraception to be consider, that women could obtain easily, including in emergency contraception situation.