Usual Source of Care and Contraceptive Use

Background: A high proportion of people in the United States at risk of unintended pregnancy also have limited primary care access.

Study design: We pooled data for analyses from separate 2015-2017 and 2017-2019 waves of the National Survey of Family Growth. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate associations between the usual source of health care and self-reported use of a comprehensive range of contraceptive options, as well as alignment between patient preference and the current method.

Results: Compared with having a private doctor or Health Maintenance Organization, not having a usual source of care was associated with lower odds of using short-term hormonal methods (OR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.40-0.73, for an 11 percentage point lower rate); higher odds of using time-based methods (OR=1.47, 95% CI: 1.10-1.97, for a 6 percentage point higher rate); and higher odds of preferring a contraceptive method other than the one most recently used (OR=1.39, 95% CI: 1.01-1.90, for a 6 percentage point higher probability). Reliance on an emergency department as a usual source of care was not associated with contraceptive use or satisfaction with the method used. Reliance on urgent care was associated only with higher odds of using time-based methods (OR=1.60, 95% CI: 1.03-2.50, for a 7 percentage point higher rate). Clinic-based usual care was not associated with any differences in contraceptive use but was associated with preferring a contraceptive method other than the one most recently used (OR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.21-2.25, for an 8 percentage point higher probability).

Conclusions: All sources of usual care can improve contraceptive access.