Contraceptive use and counseling before and after an abortion in Ohio, 1981 and 1986.

ABSTRACT

PIP The use of counseling to promote effective contraceptive use after abortion was evaluated through use of data from Ohio on abortions performed in 1981 and 1986. Ohio was selected because the Department of Health collects information on contraception used at time of conception and the contraceptive method the woman was counseled to use after her abortion. In both years, about 65% of abortion patients were not using a contraceptive method at the time of conception. This phenomenon was most common among teenagers. Contraception failures tended to involve the IUD, diaphragm, and spermicide in 1981 and the pill and condom in 1986. Of note was the finding that women who experienced pill failure were rarely advised to switch to another method after abortion. Women who were nonusers at the time of conception were generally counseled to use the pill. Over 9% of women counseled to undergo sterilization opted to have this surgery concurrent with the abortion. Although the findings are limited by incomplete reporting and insufficient coding categories, they provide some leads as to how abortion providers can improve patient care and highlight the importance of careful counseling of young women who are not using a contraceptive method.^ieng