CONTRACEPTIVE CHOICE AND REPRODUCTIVE MORBIDITY IN ISTANBUL

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Istanbul to investigate the relationship between contraceptive choice and reproductive morbidity. Altogether, 918 women who had ever used any means of avoiding pregnanc y were interviewed at home, and, among these, 694 parous nonpregnant w omen were examined by three female physicians. The women were aware of bearing a considerable burden of ill health, with 81 percent reportin g at least one episode of illness in the three months prior to the int erview. Current users of the intrauterine device were significantly mo re likely than users of other methods to report menstrual disorders, b ut pelvic relaxation and reproductive and urinary tract infections, wh ether perceived or diagnosed, were not significantly related to any of the contraceptive methods. The relatively small amount of switching b etween methods suggests that most users tended to stay with the same m ethod once chosen and that health concerns played an important part on ly in the initial choice of the method.