Estimation of contraceptive continuation functions

Abstract

Abstract Evidence from Puerto Rico supports the hypothesis that the continuation rate has a decay form rather than a reciprocal form. As indicated in the literature, there was evidence that the continuation rate tends to vary not only with time but also with the age of the patient at acceptance. It was found that the fit of the continuation function could be improved substantially by making the effective decay rate an exponential function of age. Theoretical reasoning was presented to justify these empirical results.