Beyond the surface: care seeking among patients initiating contraceptive implant in an urban federally qualified health center network

Anita Ravi, Linda Prine, Gabrielle deFiebre, Susan E. Rubin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: To describe rates of and reasons for follow-up among adolescents and adults receiving contraceptive implants in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Methods: Retrospective comparison of patient-initiated implant-related contacts during the 6 months postinsertion among adolescents (110) and adults (154) who had implants placed at a FQHC network. Results: Forty percent of adolescents and 26% of adults initiated follow-up (P =.016). Bleeding changes and discussing removal were the most common reasons for follow-up for both groups. Adolescents (5.5%) and adults (9.0%) had similar removal rates (P =.348). However, among patients who discussed implant removal, adults were more likely to have removals compared with adolescents (P =.002). Conclusions: Other FQHCs may anticipate a similar experience to ours, where adolescents may be more likely than adults to initiate implant-related follow up, with removal rates of less than 10% at 6 months. Further study of physician decision making and patient autonomy regarding implantable contraception removal requests is warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)20-25
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Primary Care and Community Health
Volume8
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adolescent
  • Community health centers
  • Contraception
  • FQHC
  • Implantable contraception
  • Primary care

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