Evidence based counselling

doi:10.1136/bmj.b3869

Published 22 September 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3869
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3869

Letters

Contraception for women

Evidence based counselling

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In their review of contraception for women, Amy and Tripathiemphasise the importance of patient choice and discussion oftypical use failure rates.¹ However, they focus on the hormonalcontraceptive pill, with only brief analysis of more effectivemethods such as intrauterine devices.

Whereas perfect use failure rates are the theoretical minimumrisk of pregnancy associated with a method, typical use figuresprovide patients with a more accurate picture of their riskof pregnancy. Research shows that, for women, the most importantcharacteristic of a contraceptive method is its effectivenessin preventing pregnancy,² ³ ⁴ and the World Health Organizationhas developed a chart to help to communicate this information.The hormonal contraceptive pill remains the most widely usedmethod in the United Kingdom, but it is associated with a significantlyhigher typical use failure rate (8% in the first year of use)than more effective methods (well under 1%).⁵ More effective. . . [Full text of this article]