Family Planning

Most Common Method of Contraception Is Identified

Female sterilization is the most common method for contraception in women with overweight and obesity compared with women of normal weight, according to the results of a recent study presented at this year’s American Society of Reproductive Medicine meeting. The study also found that women with obesity are more likely to use contraceptive injections vs oral contraceptive pills.

These results come as part of a data analysis of the 2015-2017 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), a retrospective, cross-sectional study of reproductive-aged women in the United States.

While the 2015-2017 NSFG included data from 5554 women between the ages of 15 to 49 years, the authors of this analysis focused solely on women aged between 20 and 44 years. Also excluded from this analysis were women who were pregnant at baseline, trying to get pregnant, or had recently delivered.

The participants were classified as one of 4 categories according to their body mass index (BMI):

  • Underweight (less than 18.5 kg/m2)
  • Normal (18.5-24.9 kg/m2)
  • Overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m2)
  • Obese (30.0 kg/m2 or more)

The results indicated that women with overweight are more likely to rely on female sterilization and less likely to use oral contraceptive pills than those with a normal weight.

Similarly, when compared with women of normal weight, women with obesity are more likely to use female sterilization and more likely to use a contraceptive injection. Women with obesity are also less likely to use the oral pill and less likely to use male sterilization than their normal-weight counterparts.

“Exploring the differences in contraceptive use among women with normal weight, overweight, and obesity will improve the understanding of fertility and unintended pregnancies in reproductive-aged women,” the study authors note.

—Leigh Precopio

Reference:

Itauma O, Abara C, Gonullu DC, Fee M, Itauma I, Awonuga AO. Contraceptive choices by weight status among women in the United States: an analysis of the 2015-2017 National Survey of Family Growth. Talk presented at: The American Society for Reproductive Medicine; October 17-21, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2020.08.494