Examination of Contraceptive Preferences of Married Women Over 40 Years of Age

INTRODUCTION: Epidemiological studies have shown that perimenopausal contraception is an important medical problem because perimenopausal women still need an effective contraception. The aim of the study is to evaluate the contraceptive preferences of Turkish women over 40 years of age.
METHODS: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between February 2013 and May 2013 at 4 Family Health Centers affiliated with Çanakkale Public Health Directorate. The sample of the study consisted of 386 women who admitted to the Family Health Centers for examination, were married, were aged between 40-49 years, did not go through menopause, and agreed to participate in the study. A questionnaire with questions including socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric and gynecological history, and contraceptive methods of the women was used to collect the data. The data were collected by using the face-to-face interview technique. The Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and logistic regression analysis were used to perform statistical analyses.
RESULTS: In the study, 58.3% of the women used a modern contraceptive method, 28.7% used a traditional contraceptive method, and 13% did not use any contraceptive method. The most commonly used modern contraceptive methods were IUD (68.8%), tube ligation (5.4%), condom (21.9%) and hormonal method (4%). Women's preferences for the use of modern contraceptive method were positively affected by having a secondary school degree, residing in the city center, and being employed. In addition, having a single child increased the use of modern contraceptive methods by three times.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study revealed that about half of the women over 40 years of age did not use a modern family planning method. By considering the health risks of pregnancy in advanced age, health specialists need to pay more attention to counseling of perimenopausal contraception.