CONTRACEPTIVE RISK-TAKING IN A MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED, LOW-INCOME POPULATION

This study examines the phenomenon of contraceptive risk-taking, which is the nonuse of contraception by women who are sexually active, fert ile and not pregnant or trying to become pregnant. Based on a survey s ample of low-income women in their childbearing years who had not rece ived family planning care or advice from a doctor or clinic for at lea st three years, the study analyzed demographic predictors of contracep tive risk-taking and also compared levels of contraceptive knowledge a nd pregnancy histories of noncontraceptors versus barrier contraceptor s. Contraceptive risk-taking was found to be higher for minority women , for parous women, for those age 30 and younger, and for those whose knowledge of the fertility cycle is incorrect, but risk-taking was fou nd to be unrelated to the women's marital status. Noncontraceptors wer e less knowledgeable concerning contraceptive methods and substantiall y more likely to have had previous unwanted pregnancies due to nonuse of contraception, suggesting that current contraceptive risk-taking pr obably represents a relatively enduring feature of reproductive behavi or for a subgroup of the medically undeserved low-income population.