Pharmacoepidemiological aspects of oral contraceptives from a family planning clinic in Penang
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Date
1995
Authors
N. Nagalingam, Ambigadevy
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Abstract
The patient information records of 961 women who were on oral.contraceptives. were
extracted for a study from the Family Planning Association Kampong Kolam Clinic, a
major family planning clinic in Penang. The objectives of the study were :to determine
the pattern of oral contraceptive use, to assess the effectiveness of these drug,s to
evaluate the information and education systems used by the family planning program,
to investigate compliance to the oral contraceptive regime and the extent of quality of
care.
The information extracted for the study were patient characteristics, contraceptive
history, medical history inclusive of occurrence of side effects and advers'e effects,
compliance characteristics as well as rates and reasons fordiscontinuation.
For the purpose of the analysis, a computerized system was specially developed using
a Clipper system. The computer program developed is also suitable for continuous
monitoring of the family planning program for future research purposes. It can also be
utilized for quick retrieval of patient information records for day to day use at the clinics.
The results showed a high rate of discontinuation (66%) from the oral contraceptive
regime, and that those who discontinued were still in the fertile age group(92%).
Extrapolation and interrelation of data showed that those women on the oral
contraceptive had experienced side effects (40%), were non-compliant or had had a
number of deliveries (28%) during their regime. The number of abortions (14%)
amongst this group of women was also high. Overall, the study indicated that the
services provided by the family planning program, in particular with the use of oral
contraceptives, can be further improved.
Consequently, an alternative women's health program was developed based on
mformation gathered from the study. It looked at patient participation. staff re-education
and audio-visual development as major factors to bring about. change in the drug
delivery process. It is aimed at improving the drug use pattern at the clinic in particular.
This program is being implemented.
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Keywords
Oral contraceptives