Chronic Diseases and Use of Contraception Among Women at Risk of Unintended Pregnancy

Background: Womenwith chronic diseases are at increased risk of having unintended pregnancies. Little is known whether chronic diseases are associated with increased likelihood of effective/highly effective contraceptive use. Methods: We analyzed 2008-2010 Florida Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for women aged 18-44 years who were at risk of unintended pregnancy. Multivariable Poisson regression estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for contraceptive use in relation to diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and current asthma. We assessed the association of chronic disease status with use of three different contraception outcomes: (1) any method versus none, (2) less effective methods (methods associated with >= 10 unintended pregnancies/100 women/year) versus none, and (3) effective/highly effective methods (< 10 unintended pregnancies/100 women/year) versus none. Results: Among 4473 women at risk for unintended pregnancy, 87% were using any method of contraception (22.5% less effective methods and 64.5% effective/highly effective methods). Women with CVD were more likely than those without CVD to use any contraception (aPR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.15), less effective (aPR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.70), and effective/highly effective (aPR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.19) contraception. Women with diabetes were more likely to use less effective methods than women without diabetes (aPR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.72). No significant associations were observed for asthma, regardless of contraceptive effectiveness. Conclusions: Self-reported use of effective/highly effective contraception was higher than nonuse or use of less effective methods among all women at risk of unintended pregnancy, but could be improved, especially among women with chronic diseases.