Intrauterine contraception in adolescents and young women: a descriptive study of use, side effects, and compliance

Objective: Describe characteristics, compliance, efficacy, and side effect profile of adolescents and young women who use intrauterine contraception (IC).

Study design: Retrospective chart review of adolescent and young women who had IC devices placed over a 3-year period. Comparative statistics between devices and population characteristics were performed using the Fisher exact and the t test.

Results: Eighty-nine patients were included in the study. The mean age at insertion was 19.5 years (range 16-22 years). Copper was used in 13% of patients; levonorgestrel (LNG) was used in 87%. The mean duration of use was 331.3 days (copper vs LNG; P = .2254). Side effects included infection (9%, but no pelvic inflammatory disease), pain (28%), partner felt strings (9%), and bleeding (32%). Reasons for removal included side effects (25%), desired fertility (5%), expulsion (3%), and pregnancy (2%). There were no pregnancies associated with the LNG IC, and there were fewer removals because of side effects than with the copper IUD (P = .0180).

Conclusion: IC is a reliable method of contraception in teens and young adults. There were fewer removals because of side effects in the LNG group, although overall other variables are similar between methods.