Young persons' contraceptive clinic, 1975 to 1980: patterns of use
Jamieson, L.; Bury, J.K.; McGlew, T.
Health Bulletin 41(2): 68-77
1983
ISSN/ISBN: 0374-8014 PMID: 6841070 Document Number: 397864
From 1975 specific information has been collected for every 5th client who attends the Edinburgh Brook Advisory Center for the 1st time. The Center is a clinic providing contraceptive advice, pregnancy advice, and counseling on sexual concerns and oriented particularly to the needs of young people. As a result of the sustained and systematic data collection, there is a 1 in 5 sample from 1975-80 of new clients to the clinic. Background characteristics are recorded along with details concerning clients' service use and information about how the client learned about the clinic. The data is currently held on computer and is analyzed using the software package Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Throughout the discussion, specific reference is made to younger clients, that is to clients under age 20. Due to the fact that Brook users may be unrepresentative of the age group as a whole, generalizations may not be made. It is only pssible to generalize about the type of teenager seen at the Brook Center. The Center sees about 2000 new clients each year and serves an almost exclusively female population. Approximately 20 men attend the clinic each year. Throughout the 1975-80 period, the new client population varied little with regard to age, marital status, and residence. About 86% of women paying a 1st visit were single, and the majority were 21 years of age or under. Around 40% were teenagers. 84% were nulliparous in 1980. Most of the young women came from Edinburgh, but roughly 1/4 came from outside the city. 2/3 of the clients heard about the clinic from someone they knew, a friend or relative who was often a Brook client. In 1975 Brook publicity accounted for 17% of the referrals. In 1980 general practitioner referrals accounted for 7% of new clients. The majority of clients came to the clinic to receive contraception, but a substantial minority attended because they were pregnant or suspected they might be pregnant. Of those clients obtaining contraception, the vast majority chose oral contraceptives (OCs). In 1975, 91% of clients obtaining contraception left with some form of OC compared to 85% at the end of the period. The decrease was more marked for older clients. The decrease in the popularity of the combined pill was offset somewhat by the increased use of the progestogen only pill. Despite the shifts, the vast majority of clients continued to use some form of OC. In 1980 a quarter of sexually experienced new clients reported no form of contraception more effective than withdrawal. In 1980 over 1/3 of the sexually experienced teenage clients reported no contraception other than withdrawal. The 2 most popular methods were condoms and OC, together accounting for about 90% of contraception use.