SHOULD THE RECOMMENDED NUMBER OF IUD REVISITS BE REDUCED

This study uses data from clinical trials of intrauterine devices to e xamine the effect of reducing the recommended number of IUD follow-up visits. Over 11,000 follow-up forms were analyzed to estimate the numb er of health problems that would have escaped detection if women with no or mild symptoms had not made recommended revisits. Less than one p ercent of woman-visits with no or only mild symptoms had an underlying health risk that could gone undetected if the follow-up visits that w ere made in the clinic trial setting had not been made. The results fr om this analysis suggest that a reduction in the number of recommended follow-up visits is safe, when measured according to selected conditi ons. Additional research is necessary to determine whether any revisit s should be recommended in the absence of signs or symptoms.