Initiating Contraception After Emergency Contraception From Pharmacy

NCT ID: NCT01738971

Last Updated: 2014-08-18

Study Results

Results available

Outcome measurements, participant flow, baseline characteristics, and adverse events have been published for this study.

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

168 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2012-04-30

Study Completion Date

2012-12-31

Brief Summary

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Pharmacists do not provide immediate contraception to women after emergency contraception (EC); they can only give advice on local contraceptive services.

The investigators wish to establish the following 2 pharmacy- based interventions in NHS Lothian, designed to increase uptake of effective contraception as soon as possible, after EC

1. Pharmacists would provide one packet of progestogen-only pills, giving women one month to arrange an appointment with contraceptive services.
2. Rapid access to a family planning clinic upon presentation of the empty EC packet. Women would be seen as a 'walk-in' and contraception provided.

If feasible, these interventions could reduce unintended pregnancies.

Participating pharmacies will be randomised to provide one of the interventions, or standard care (verbal/written advice on local contraceptive services).

Women requesting EC from study pharmacies will be recruited by the research nurse/doctor to participate in the study that will involve them consenting to contact by telephone 6-8 weeks after EC by the researcher, to evaluate the interventions in terms of :

(i) determine women's experiences/ views of the interventions and control. (ii) determine if women have commenced effective contraception and if not , reasons why.

A subset of 12 women will also be invited for in-depth interview to collect more detailed qualitative data on their EC experience.

The investigators also wish to (iii) explore pharmacists views on the interventions

Data from this pilot will enable the investigators to determine whether a larger multisite study is feasible. The aims of a larger study being to determine if either of the two interventions being tested result in an increased proportion of women using effective ongoing contraception compared to the control.

Detailed Description

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The investigators propose to test 2 pharmacy based interventions to increase uptake of effective contraception after EC:

1. Pharmacists would provide one packet of progestogen-only pills to women, so that they would have 28 days to arrange an appointment with contraceptive services to get a supply of ongoing contraception.
2. Rapid access to a family planning clinic upon presentation of their empty(used) packet of EC. Women would be seen as a 'walk-in' (without appointment) and ongoing contraception discussed and provided.

These interventions would be compared with the status quo, i.e. pharmacists give verbal advice and written information on local contraceptive services where ongoing contraception can be accessed.

The interventions that we are testing are low cost i.e one packet of progestogen-only pills (£3 for most costly brand) plus additional consultation time with the pharmacist (estimated 20 mins@ £1 per minute), versus the staff consultation time in a family planning clinic. In the family planning clinic, women would be seen as a 'walk-in' and so this may not add costs, since staff are already present.These interventions could, if shown to be effective, offer huge costs savings to the NHS, by reducing the costs of unintended pregnancies (abortion, miscarriage, birth).

Conditions

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Contraceptive Use After Emergency Contraception

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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control (standard care)

standard verbal and written advice on contraception from pharmacy

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

rapid access

rapid access to family planning service

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

rapid access

Intervention Type OTHER

Provision of box which the participant can take to local family planning clinic (contraceptive service) allowing rapid access (i.e. will be seen by a health professional for a consultation regarding contraception there and then).

progestogen only pill

one month progestogen only pill

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

one month progestogen only pill

Intervention Type OTHER

Provision of 1 month supply of a progestogen only pill (levonorgestrel 35mcg - Norgeston, Bayer, UK)

Interventions

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rapid access

Provision of box which the participant can take to local family planning clinic (contraceptive service) allowing rapid access (i.e. will be seen by a health professional for a consultation regarding contraception there and then).

Intervention Type OTHER

one month progestogen only pill

Provision of 1 month supply of a progestogen only pill (levonorgestrel 35mcg - Norgeston, Bayer, UK)

Intervention Type OTHER

Other Intervention Names

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Norgeston (Bayer, UK)

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* age \>= 16 yrs
* requesting emergency contraception
* eligible for emergency contraception
* written , informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

* age \< 16 yrs
* not able to give written , informed consent
Minimum Eligible Age

16 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

45 Years

Eligible Sex

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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NHS Lothian

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role collaborator

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Edinburgh

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Sharon T Cameron, MBChB

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Edinburgh

Locations

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Chalmers sexual and reproductive health service

Edinburgh, Lothian, United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

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United Kingdom

Other Identifiers

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182.

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

Protocol ECfe03

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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