Table 3.
Women at Risk for Unintended Pregnancy:* Current Contraceptive Status, Method Used, and Unmet Need for Prescription Contraception
| Contraception method | Women veterans, age 20–44 2014–2015 (n = 1173) |
Age-adjusted US population, age 20–44 2011–2013 (n = 2648)† |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| % | (95% CI) | % | |
| USING CONTRACEPTION ‡ | 88.5 | (86.7, 90.3) | 90.2 |
| Highly effective methods | 48.8 | (46, 51.7) | 47.7 |
| Female tubal sterilization | 16.8 | (14.7, 18.9) | 25.7 |
| Male sterilization | 9.2 | (7.6, 10.9) | 10.8 |
| Intrauterine device | 19.5 | (17.3, 21.8) | 10.4 |
| Subdermal implant | 3.3 | (2.3, 4.4) | 0.8 |
| Moderately effective methods | 23.4 | (21, 25.9) | 22.2 |
| Pill | 15.7 | (13.6, 17.8) | 18.3 |
| Patch or contraceptive ring | 4.2 | (3.0, 5.3) | 2.0 |
| 3-Month injectable (Depo-Provera™) | 3.6 | (2.5, 4.6) | 1.8 |
| Less effective methods | 15.9 | (13.8, 17.9) | 20.3 |
| Condom | 9.1 | (7.5, 10.8) | 13.1 |
| Periodic abstinence | 2.7 | (1.8, 3.7) | 1.6 |
| Withdrawal | 2.9 | (1.9, 3.9) | 5.2 |
| Other methods§ | 1.1 | (0.5, 1.7) | 0.5 |
| NOT USING CONTRACEPTION | 11.5 | (9.7, 13.3) | 9.8 |
| UNMET NEED FOR PRESCRIPTION CONTRACEPTION ‖ | 27.4 | (24.8, 29.9) | 30.1 |
CI, confidence interval
*Women were considered at risk of unintended pregnancy if they had been sexually active with a man in the prior 3 months, had not had a hysterectomy, and were not infertile, pregnant, postpartum, or trying to get pregnant
† Age-specific contraception use estimates were obtained from the 2011–2013 NSFG data for women aged 20–44 with at least a high school education or GED and at risk of pregnancy and were applied to the VA population age distribution. Age was categorized by 5-year groups as follows: 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35–39, and 40–44. The weighted sample size is 31,385,000
‡ A total of 4 women (0.3) reported using contraception but did not specify method type and are thus not included in individual method reporting
§ Other methods included spermicide, diaphragm, cervical cap or Today sponge, female condom, and emergency contraception
‖ Unmet need for prescription contraception includes the use of a less effective method and no contraceptive use