Use of FPA clinics in a London Borough

Abstract

A study of first attendances at FPA clinics in the defined population of a London Borough showed that the population served was not dissimilar by social class from an appropriate sample of the population of the Borough. Almost two-thirds of the women were prescribed the contraceptive pill at first visit, and the other third were almost equally divided between the diaphragm and the intra-uterine device as a contraceptive method. Use of the pill was inversely proportional to age, whereas the use of the cap and IUD increased with age at first attendance. Women prescribed the pill or IUD tended to continue with the method, whereas 11% of women who initially used the diaphragm changed over to the pill in approximately a 1-year follow-up period. A large proportion of women, 21%, attended the clinics only once, but this was shown to be due, for the most part, to factors which were outside the control of the clinic.