Table 4:
Motivations and experiences of people who attempted self-removal of a long-acting reversible contraceptive device and shared their experience on YouTube (N=58)
| Total | % | Method of LARC | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||
| IUD (n=48) |
% IUD users |
Implant (n=10) |
% implant users |
|||
|
|
||||||
| Reasons for self-removal of LARC | ||||||
| Cost/ lack of insurance | 19 | 32.8 | 15 | 31.3 | 4 | 40.0 |
| Waiting time for an appointment | 11 | 19.0 | 11 | 22.9 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Preference/ Convenience | 30 | 51.7 | 28 | 58.3 | 2 | 20.0 |
| Experience of LARC self-removal | ||||||
| Successful removal | 56 | 96.6 | 47 | 97.9 | 9 | 90.0 |
| Easy | 38 | 65.6 | 35 | 72.9 | 3 | 30.0 |
| Little pain | 36 | 62.1 | 32 | 66.7 | 4 | 40.0 |
| Had support person for removal | 22 | 37.9 | 13 | 27.1 | 9 | 90.0 |
| Difficult (time, grasping IUD strings or implant, etc.) | 17 | 29.3 | 14 | 29.2 | 3 | 30.0 |
| Reasons for LARC discontinuation | ||||||
| Desired pregnancy | 10 | 17.2 | 9 | 18.8 | 1 | 10.0 |
| Negative side effects | 32 | 55.2 | 31 | 64.6 | 1 | 10.0 |
| Fear of potential side effects | 15 | 25.9 | 7 | 14.6 | 2 | 20.0 |
|
| ||||||
Note: themes within each category are not mutually exclusive. For example, a video subject may have been motivated to discontinue LARC because they desired pregnancy and they experienced negative side effects.