FRIDAY, March 26, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Women are are no more likely to use contraception after a diabetes diagnosis, according to a study published online March 18 in Primary Care Diabetes.
Mara E. Murray Horwitz, M.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues used private insurance data from nonpregnant women (aged 15 to 49 years; 2000 to 2014) to identify women with a new diabetes diagnosis (75,355 individuals) and a matched control group without diabetes (7.5 million individuals). Rates of prescription or procedural contraception use in the two groups were compared.
The researchers found that overall rates of contraception use did not increase in the year after diagnosis (absolute difference-in-difference, 0.4 percent). There was a decline noted in estrogen-containing and injectable contraceptives in the year after diagnosis (absolute difference-in-difference, −2.2 and −0.8 percent, respectively), although there were no corresponding increases for intrauterine contraception or subdermal implants.
“Our findings highlight the need for increased patient education, clinical support tools, and care coordination to improve access to family planning — including the full range of safe and effective contraceptive options — for women with diabetes,” the authors write.
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