Teenage girls who use long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) are less likely than girls using oral contraception to use condoms, which can increase their risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics, Reuters reports.
For the study, researchers examined data from a 2013 survey of U.S. high school girls in grades nine through 12. Among respondents, 2,288 were sexually active.
Key findings
Of the 2,288 sexually active respondents, 41 percent reported using condoms, 22 percent reported that they were using the pill, 16 percent said they did not use contraception, 12 percent reported using withdrawal or other methods, 6 percent reported using the shot, patch or ring, 2 percent said they were using LARC and another 2 percent said they did not know which method they used.
According to the study, respondents who used LARC methods were about 60 percent less likely to use condoms than respondents using hormonal contraception. The researchers found that there was no significant difference in condom use between LARC users and respondents who used the shot, patch or ring.
Comments
Lead researcher Riley Steiner of CDC said it is unclear why condom use is less likely among LARC users. However, she noted, "Young women using highly effective LARC methods may be less likely to use condoms because they don't perceive a need for additional protection from pregnancy; [i]t's also possible that providers are more likely to offer LARC to adolescents who rarely or never use condoms."
Steiner added, "The findings highlight a need for strategies to increase condom use among all users of highly and moderately effective contraceptive methods ... to prevent STIs." She added that the findings should not discourage LARC use among teenage girls but instead "inform how STI prevention is addressed within the context of adolescent LARC scale-up."
Similarly, Julia Potter of Boston Medical Center stated, "The important takeaway message from this story is that we need to be giving girls the right message of why condom use is important."
She noted that more research needs to be done to determine why LARC users are less likely to use condoms (Seaman, Reuters, 3/14).
