Initiating Contraception After Emergency Contraception From Pharmacy

Summary

Pharmacists do not provide immediate contraception to women after emergency contraception (EC); they can only give advice on local contraceptive services.

The investigators wish to establish the following 2 pharmacy- based interventions in NHS Lothian, designed to increase uptake of effective contraception as soon as possible, after EC

1. Pharmacists would provide one packet of progestogen-only pills, giving women one month to arrange an appointment with contraceptive services.
2. Rapid access to a family planning clinic upon presentation of the empty EC packet. Women would be seen as a 'walk-in' and contraception provided.

If feasible, these interventions could reduce unintended pregnancies.

Participating pharmacies will be randomised to provide one of the interventions, or standard care (verbal/written advice on local contraceptive services).

Women requesting EC from study pharmacies will be recruited by the research nurse/doctor to participate in the study that will involve them consenting to contact by telephone 6-8 weeks after EC by the researcher, to evaluate the interventions in terms of :

(i) determine women's experiences/ views of the interventions and control. (ii) determine if women have commenced effective contraception and if not , reasons why.

A subset of 12 women will also be invited for in-depth interview to collect more detailed qualitative data on their EC experience.

The investigators also wish to (iii) explore pharmacists views on the interventions

Data from this pilot will enable the investigators to determine whether a larger multisite study is feasible. The aims of a larger study being to determine if either of the two interventions being tested result in an increased proportion of women using effective ongoing contraception compared to the control.

Conditions

• Contraceptive Use After Emergency Contraception

Interventions

OTHER

rapid access

Provision of box which the participant can take to local family planning clinic (contraceptive service) allowing rapid access (i.e. will be seen by a health professional for a consultation regarding contraception there and then).

OTHER

one month progestogen only pill

Provision of 1 month supply of a progestogen only pill (levonorgestrel 35mcg - Norgeston, Bayer, UK)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• NHS Lothian

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Edinburgh

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sharon T Cameron, MBChB · University of Edinburgh

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

16 Years

Max Age

45 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2012-04-30

Primary Completion

2012-12-31

Completion

2012-12-31

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations