Evaluation of Internet Access and Use in Adolescent Women Initiating Contraception

NCT ID: NCT00333541

Last Updated: 2015-03-05

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 100 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2006-06-30
• Study Completion Date: 2008-07-31

Brief Summary

This purpose of this study is determine whether the use of internet technology to communicate with adolescents about contraception is feasible and to determine whether it is more effective than traditional methods. Study subjects will complete baseline and follow-up surveys at 3, 6, and 12 months about their contraceptive practice and sexual behaviors.

Subjects with internet access will be randomized to either completing surveys remotely over the internet through email or to follow-up in clinic on laptop computers.

Our hypothesis is that women who have access to the internet as well as use the internet regularly are more likely to complete follow-up surveys. This will then in turn allow us to get a better understanding of contraceptive practices amongst high risk teens.

Detailed Description

Despite the wide range of contraceptive technologies currently available the rate of unintended pregnancies in the U.S. remains high. In particular, adolescents, unmarried, low income, and minority women are amongst the highest risk populations for unintended pregnancy . Improving contraceptive use is critical for addressing this problem. Many programs have been developed and implemented to reduce sexual risk-taking behavior, one of the precursors to unintended pregnancies. Unfortunately, most of them have met with mixed results. Gaining insight into contraceptive practice and sexual behavior in this population is the first step towards improving contraceptive use. Many other disciplines have successfully used the internet for purposes of research (ie. asthma management, smoking cessation,etc), but this use of the internet has not been explored with adolescent women.

The study we are proposing is a randomized control trial to evaluate the use of internet technology in communicating with adolescent women about contraceptive practice. This study is a sub-study within an ongoing 12-month, longitudinal observational study of a cohort of "high-risk" women and their contraceptive practices and sexual behavior. Our hypothesis is that women who have access to the internet are more likely to complete follow-up surveys while enrolled in this longitudinal study, thus enabling us to obtain a greater understanding about contraceptive practice within this population via the internet. Furthermore, if internet proves to be a more effective means of communicating with adolescents because of the potential convenience and privacy of the method we may increase our impact on contraceptive use by embracing internet technology in the future.

Participants with internet access within the larger study will be identified and entered into a sub-study and randomized to either in clinic follow-up surveys or remote access completion of surveys via email over the internet. All participants will undergo the same screening, consent, and entry criteria for the study.

Conditions

Contraceptive Behavior; Internet Use

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Treatment

follow-up via e-mail link to survey

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Using internet/E-mail for follow-up

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

follow-up via email link to survey

Control

standard follow-up by phone and in-person interview

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Using internet/E-mail for follow-up

follow-up via email link to survey

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Women age 15-24
• Sexually active
• Single
• Initiating contraception: either OCP's, the patch, the ring, or depoprovera
• English speaking
• Have an active email account
• Use email use ≥1 per wk

Exclusion Criteria

• Lack of email account
• Email use < 1 per wk

• Minimum Eligible Age: 15 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 24 Years
• Eligible Sex: FEMALE
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of California, San Francisco

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Tina Raine, MD, MPH

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, San Francisco

Sadia Haider, MD, MPH

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, San Francisco

References

Haider S, Dodge LE, Brown BA, Hacker MR, Raine TR. Evaluation of e-mail contact to conduct follow-up among adolescent women participating in a longitudinal cohort study of contraceptive use. Contraception. 2013 Jul;88(1):18-23. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2012.11.016. Epub 2013 Jan 3.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 23290427 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

R01HD045480-03

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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