Table 2.
Prevalence of usual contraceptive method use in the last year by sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics: Natsal-3
| Characteristics Total |
Denominator* (weighted/unweighted) | Most effective: sterilisation | Most effective: LARC | Effective | Least effective | No method used |
| % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | ||
| 4528 to 3184 | 8.9 (7.8 to 10.2) | 14.3 (13.0 to 15.6) | 35.3 (33.7 to 37.0) | 23.9 (22.4 to 25.5) | 17.5 (16.3 to 18.9) | |
| Sociodemographic | ||||||
| Age (years) | ||||||
| 16–17 | 244 to 118 | 0.0 | 14.5 (10.5 to 19.7) | 47.5 (40.8 to 54.2) | 33.2 (26.9 to 40.0) | 4.9 (2.8 to 8.3) |
| 18–19 | 353 to 185 | 0.0 | 12.3 (9.0 to 16.6) | 56.0 (50.2 to 61.5) | 25.8 (21.1 to 31.1) | 5.9 (3.8 to 9.1) |
| 20–24 | 928 to 544 | 0.3 (0.1 to 1.0) | 13.7 (11.3 to 16.4) | 50.4 (46.7 to 54.0) | 24.1 (21.0 to 27.5) | 11.5 (9.4 to 14.1) |
| 25–29 | 1162 to 577 | 2.9 (2.1 to 4.0) | 13.2 (11.0 to 15.7) | 44.9 (41.7 to 48.1) | 23.8 (20.8 to 27.1) | 15.2 (13.0 to 17.7) |
| 30–34 | 702 to 447 | 4.0 (2.7 to 6.0) | 14.2 (11.5 to 17.4) | 36.3 (32.6 to 40.1) | 24.0 (20.6 to 27.7) | 21.6 (18.5 to 25.0) |
| 35–44 | 892 to 1074 | 18.5 (15.8 to 21.6) | 15.4 (13.0 to 18.2) | 20.8 (18.1 to 23.7) | 22.6 (19.8 to 25.7) | 22.7 (20.0 to 25.6) |
| Ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 3990 to 2772 | 9.9 (8.6 to 11.2) | 14.4 (13.1 to 15.8) | 37.3 (35.5 to 39.0) | 22.3 (20.8 to 24.0) | 16.1 (14.8 to 17.5) |
| Asian/Asian-British | 214 to 181 | 2.9 (1.0 to 8.0) | 8.7 (5.3 to 13.9) | 12.0 (8.0 to 17.6) | 41.2 (34.1 to 48.7) | 35.2 (28.0 to 43.1) |
| Black/Black-British | 122 to 94 | 4.1 (1.1 to 13.4) | 18.9 (12.1 to 28.3) | 21.6 (14.2 to 31.4) | 32.5 (23.1 to 43.5) | 23.0 (15.4 to 32.8) |
| Mixed/other | 193 to 132 | 1.4 (0.4 to 4.8) | 15.4 (9.9 to 23.3) | 35.7 (28.2 to 44.0) | 27.0 (20.2 to 35.1) | 20.5 (14.8 to 27.5) |
| Religion | ||||||
| None | 2597 to 1720 | 8.7 (7.3 to 10.4) | 14.4 (12.9 to 16.1) | 39.2 (37.1 to 41.3) | 22.0 (20.1 to 23.9) | 15.7 (14.1 to 17.4) |
| Christian | 1656 to 1253 | 10.2 (8.4 to 12.4) | 14.5 (12.5 to 16.8) | 33.2 (30.7 to 35.8) | 24.3 (21.9 to 26.9) | 17.6 (15.5 to 19.9) |
| Muslim | 136 to 109 | 1.3 (0.2 to 8.5) | 14.4 (8.8 to 22.8) | 13.7 (8.2 to 22.0) | 35.1 (26.9 to 44.4) | 35.5 (27.1 to 45.0) |
| Hindu | 55 to 38 | 0.0 | 6.3 (1.7 to 20.3) | 10.9 (4.6 to 23.7) | 52.3 (38.4 to 65.8) | 30.5 (19.2 to 44.8) |
| Other | 76 to 60 | 7.7% (3.1 to 18.1) | 9.6% (3.8 to 22.3) | 23.5 (15.5 to 34.0) | 31.2 (20.6 to 44.2) | 28.0 (17.6 to 41.3) |
| Academic qualification† | ||||||
| No academic qualifications | 369 to 241 | 9.9 (6.5 to 14.7) | 16.0 (12.1 to 20.8) | 25.7 (20.9 to 31.3) | 17.6 (13.6 to 22.5) | 30.8 (25.3 to 36.8) |
| Qualifications typically gained at age 16 years | 1512 to 1077 | 15.2 (12.8 to 17.9) | 15.4 (13.4 to 17.7) | 33.6 (30.9 to 36.4) | 18.0 (15.7 to 20.4) | 17.8 (15.6 to 20.2) |
| Studying for/attained further academic qualifications | 2415 to 1716 | 5.5 (4.3 to 6.9) | 12.9 (11.3 to 14.7) | 38.6 (36.5 to 40.7) | 27.5 (25.4 to 29.7) | 15.5 (13.9 to 17.3) |
| Index of Multiple Deprivation | ||||||
| 1–2 (Least deprived) | 1566 to 1174 | 9.8 (8.0 to 12.0) | 13.3 (11.4 to 15.4) | 37.2 (34.5 to 39.9) | 24.6 (22.2 to 27.2) | 15.1 (13.1 to 17.4) |
| 3 | 895 to 642 | 9.5 (7.1 to 12.5) | 14.8 (12.2 to 17.8) | 36.3 (32.9 to 40.0) | 23.2 (20.1 to 26.7) | 16.1 (13.5 to 19.2) |
| 4–5 (Most deprived) | 2068 to 1369 | 7.9 (6.4 to 9.8) | 14.8 (13.0 to 16.9) | 33.3 (30.9 to 35.8) | 23.7 (21.5 to 26.1) | 20.3 (18.2 to 22.5) |
| Relationship status | ||||||
| Married | 1408 to 1337 | 15.4 (13.3 to 17.9) | 14.6 (12.5 to 16.9) | 23.0 (20.8 to 25.5) | 24.1 (21.6 to 26.8) | 22.9 (20.5 to 25.4) |
| Cohabiting, not married | 1023 to 727 | 6.3 (4.6 to 8.7) | 14.7 (12.3 to 17.4) | 41.9 (38.4 to 45.5) | 21.6 (18.8 to 24.6) | 15.5 (13.1 to 18.2) |
| Previously married | 115 to 69 | 8.4 (3.7 to 18.0) | 22.0 (14.6 to 31.9) | 21.2 (14.7 to 29.6) | 12.7 (7.9 to 19.8) | 35.6 (25.5 to 47.2) |
| Never married | 1972 to 1047 | 2.5 (1.6 to 3.8) | 13.1 (11.4 to 14.9) | 47.3 (44.7 to 49.8) | 26.0 (23.7 to 28.5) | 11.1 (9.6 to 12.7) |
| Sexual and reproductive health | ||||||
| STI in last year | ||||||
| No | 2554 to 1750 | 8.2 (6.8 to 10.0) | 12.1 (10.6 to 13.7) | 35.6 (33.5 to 37.7) | 25.6 (23.6 to 27.7) | 18.5 (16.8 to 20.4) |
| Yes | 100 to 55 | 3.7 (0.7 to 18.3) | 9.0 (4.9 to 15.9) | 53.1 (42.7 to 63.2) | 22.7 (15.1 to 32.5) | 11.5 (6.2 to 20.4) |
| Frequency of vaginal sex in last 4 weeks (n) | ||||||
| 0 | 791 to 530 | 5.1 (3.2 to 7.9) | 12.6 (10.1 to 15.7) | 31.7 (27.9 to 35.6) | 25.3 (22.0 to 28.9) | 25.3 (22.0 to 29.1) |
| 1–4 | 1923 to 1415 | 9.3 (7.6 to 11.2) | 13.1 (11.3 to 15.0) | 33.0 (30.7 to 35.4) | 27.2 (24.9 to 29.7) | 17.4 (15.4 to 19.7) |
| 5–9 | 1012 to 713 | 10.9 (8.4 to 13.9) | 16.8 (14.3 to 19.7) | 38.1 (34.8 to 41.4) | 20.1 (17.4 to 23.1) | 14.1 (11.7 to 17.0) |
| 10+ | 772 to 504 | 9.2 (6.7 to 12.5) | 15.6 (12.6 to 19.0) | 42.3 (38.1 to 46.5) | 19.2 (15.8 to 23.1) | 13.8 (11.1 to 16.9) |
| Children (n) | ||||||
| 0 | 2075 to 1316 | 1.1 (0.7 to 1.8) | 10.0 (8.6 to 11.7) | 48.6 (46.2 to 51.1) | 27.2 (24.9 to 29.5) | 13.0 (11.4 to 14.9) |
| 1 | 934 to 591 | 3.3 (2.0 to 5.4) | 13.9 (11.3 to 16.9) | 31.4 (28.1 to 34.9) | 23.7 (20.7 to 27.0) | 27.7 (24.4 to 31.3) |
| 2+ | 1520 to 1277 | 19.6 (17.1 to 22.3) | 18.7 (16.5 to 21.2) | 23.4 (21.2 to 25.9) | 20.8 (18.4 to 23.3) | 17.5 (15.4 to 19.8) |
*Denominator women <45 years who had vaginal sex in the last year, not pregnant.
†Ages >16 years.
LARC, long-acting reversible contraceptive; STI, sexually transmitted infection.