Abstract

A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY ASSESSING THE ATTITUDE, AWARENESS AND PUBLIC PRACTICE RELATED TO COMBINED ORAL CONTRACEPTION AMONG FEMALE POPULATION

Dr. Dalia Ahmed Elmaghraby* and Sarah Abdullatif Al-Ruwaished

Abstract

Introduction: Combined oral contraceptive (COC) pill, often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill". It is a birth control method that includes a combination of an estrogen (estradiol) and a progestogen (progestin). Oral contraceptives have been marketed in the United States since 1962(1). COC prevention of ovulation is considered the dominant mechanism of action, with the combination of the 2 steroids creating a synergistic effect that greatly increases their antigonadotropic and ovulation-inhibitory effects. These contraceptives also alter the consistency of cervical mucus, affect the endometrial lining, and alter tubal transport. (2) Birth control pills only work well if the woman remembers to take her pill daily without missing a day (3). There was study focused on the Contraceptive failure in the United States the result was in the typical use the rate of failure is 9% and 0.3% in the perfect use (4). COCP may cause many side effects. These include: Changes in menstrual cycles, no menstrual cycles, extra bleeding, nausea, Breast tenderness and weight gain, heart attack, high blood pressure and Stroke (5). Method: This is a cross sectional study conducted between February 2016 and May 2016 in Alahsa city at Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.An electronic questionnaire is used to collect the data included three sections. Section 1: population demographic data includes level of education, age and social status, the second part which evaluates the awareness of the participants regarding to risk, benefits and there general information about COC and the third part which evaluates the behavior of participants during using COC. Result: A total of 200 women participate in this study. More than 92% of participants were married. Most of participants 70% have university degree. For the second section 77% of the participants think that COC required prescription, 19% of them think that no need for prescription. Regarding to the safety of COC during breast feeding 55% of them think it is not safe. Regarding to the measurements that should be done before COC using 72% for pregnancy test, 38% for weight messurment, 34% for blood pressure measurement and 13% for breast examination. For the harms and benefits of COC 86% think it is harmful and 51% think it has some benefits (figure4). Regarding to healthcare providers counseling (missed doses, drug interaction) 61.2% didn’t receive clear picture. Conclusion: According to our study results, women in alahsa have insufficient knowledge about what to do if they missed a dose. Also they have limited information regarding the side effects of coc pills.

Keywords: .