Six-monthly administration of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA)
Brat, T.; Decoster, J.M.; Molitor-Peffer, M.P.
Journal de Gynecologie Obstetrique et Biologie de la Reproduction 8(7): 659-662
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0368-2315 PMID: 555783 Document Number: 146200
105 patients were treated in a small family planning clinic in Luxembourg with 450 mg of medroxyprogesteroneo cetate every 6 months as a contraceptive measure; 228 patients were similarly treated in a large university hospital in Brussels, Belgium. Socioeconomic characteristics of the 2 groups of patients were different, while results from treatment were very similar. Major side effects were constituted by menstruation disorders and changes in body weight. After the first year of use 27.6% of patients abandoned the method in Luxembourg, and 61.8% in Brussels; most patients recurred to another method. The difference in the percentage of termination of the method between the 2 localities can be explained by the fact that in Luxembourg the clinic is manned essentially by one person who gives his patients attentive and personal guidance, while in Brussels the amount of work is divided among several doctors with a rotating schedule, and consequently the quality of the physician-patient relation is not as good as it would be in other circumstances.