Emotional distress in morning-after pill patients
Huggins, G.R.; Rosenfeld, D.L.; Rickels, K.; García, C.R.; Fischer, E.L.
Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 58(1): 65-68
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-6349 PMID: 419959 DOI: 10.3109/00016347909154917Document Number: 441215
A pregnancy interception study of the emotional distress of young, single and socially advantaged white females from the Family Planning Service Unit of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who had postcoital contraception from 10/73 to 10/74 was conducted. Patients were given 25 mg. of diethylstilbestrol (DES); after 2 weeks, the patients filled up the SCL-90, a self-reporting inventory of common psychoneurotic complaints. SCL prescores and 2-week findings revealed no negative psychological effects from the postcoital contraceptive treatment with DES, despite the somatic side effects experienced by some patients with DES. These findings emphasize the value of the SCL-90 in assessing impact of an obstetric-gynecologic treatment and the value of DES for interceptive therapy in spite of other clinical safety considerations.