Adolescents' use of emergency contraception provided by Washington State pharmacists.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To increase knowledge about adolescents who obtained emergency contraceptive pills (ECP) directly from a pharmacist without first contacting a physician. DESIGN: Cross-sectional self-administered survey. SETTING: Fifteen randomly selected pharmacies providing ECP in western Washington State. PARTICIPANTS: Adolescents 15-21 years old (n = 126) who obtained ECP directly from a pharmacist. OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses to a 20-item questionnaire examining adolescents' reasons for seeking care from a pharmacist, need for additional medical evaluation, risk for not receiving additional medical care, and satisfaction with care provided by the pharmacist. RESULTS: The most common reasons for using the pharmacy were convenience (44%), lack of knowledge about alternatives (38%), and privacy (31%). If the pharmacy service were not available, 58% said they would see a doctor, 22% said they would wait to see if they got pregnant, and 20% did not know. Based on self-report, 81% of adolescents needed a new method of ongoing contraception, an evaluation for sexually transmitted disease, or both. Among these adolescents, 36% had risk factors for not receiving this care. Adolescents were satisfied with the pharmacy service; 94% said they would recommend the service to a friend. CONCLUSIONS: ECP provision by pharmacists is a useful way to increase access to emergency contraception. However, many adolescents using ECP need additional medical care. Programs designed to increase ECP access should use these opportunities to link adolescents with more comprehensive reproductive health care services.