Patterns of Depo-Provera use in a large family planning clinic in the United States

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Abstract
Summary: Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) was approved as an investigational new drug for contraceptive use in the United States between 1967 and 1978. Patterns of contraceptive choice and changing methods were determined among 36,298 women attending a family planning clinic between 1967 and 1976. This population was the largest concentration of US women who had DMPA available as a contraceptive option. By 1974, women in the age group 35–49 were as likely to choose DMPA as either oral contraception or an intrauterine device. Coincidentally, use of the most popular choice, oral contraception, declined in older women and IUD use dropped sharply in all age groups. On average, users of DMPA were more likely to continue their method than were users of IUDs or barrier methods. Among women in the 35–49 age group, DMPA users were the group least likely to change methods.