Trial of Immediate Versus Delayed Initiation of Transdermal Hormonal Contraception After Therapeutic Abortion

August 14, 2019 updated by: University of California, San Francisco

Immediate Versus Delayed Initiation of Transdermal Hormonal Contraception After Therapeutic Abortion: A Randomized Trial

This is a randomized, controlled trial investigating whether immediate versus standard, "Sunday Start", initiation of transdermal hormonal contraception (the patch) in post-abortion subjects can improve compliance and the continuation of contraception. Immediate initiation of the patch has been studied in women seeking contraception when they are not immediately post-abortion, and this "Quick Start" method has been shown to improve the continuation of the patch into a second month. The primary hypothesis of this study is that immediate initiation of the patch in post-abortal women will improve the continuation of contraception over delayed initiation on the first Sunday after an abortion.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

The United States has a higher rate of unintended pregnancy than Canada or any other developed nation in Europe. Hormonal contraception is the most common method of contraception used in this country. Perfect use can lead to failure rates as low as 0.1% per year. Actual failure rates are much higher, often due to non-compliance with contraception use. Several recent studies have examined the "Quick Start", or initiation of hormonal contraception (OCPs and patch) in front of the provider while still at the clinic, regardless of time in the cycle. These studies have shown that women who placed the first patch in the clinic were more likely to continue the patch into the second month. Women who are seen in clinics for a therapeutic abortion (TAB) are often at extremely high risk for another unintended/unwanted pregnancy. If compliance in patch use could be improved in this group of women, unintended/unwanted pregnancy rates could be reduced. One concern about the "Quick Start" technique is that women may have already ovulated or conceived when the patch is initiated mid-cycle. In the post-abortal setting, this is not a concern. Applying the "Quick Start" technique to post-abortion patients and having women place the first patch while still in the clinic after their abortion may improve compliance and continuation of patch use.

This is a prospective, randomized, controlled trial in post-abortal women, and will last approximately 24 months. All of the study subjects will receive a month's worth of the patch and a one-year prescription after their TAB. The women in the immediate start arm will then place their first patch in the clinic, observed by clinic staff, before leaving. The controls will be instructed to place the first patch on the first Sunday following their abortion. All subjects will receive the same medication with the only difference being the timing of initiation of the patch. Measurements of continuation will be determined by telephone interviews administered at two and six months after the subjects' abortion.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

298

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • California
      • San Francisco, California, United States, 94110
        • Women's Options Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

13 years to 45 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Any woman aged 13-45 who presents to the Women's Options Clinic and desires to use the patch for post-abortion contraception.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Gestational age above 23 weeks and 1 day.
  • Any absolute contraindication for patch use (smoking > 20 cigarettes a day over age 35, history of venous thromboembolic event or pulmonary embolism, history of or current ischemic heart disease, history of stroke, vascular disease, complicated valvular heart disease [pulmonary hypertension, atrial fibrillation, history of subacute bacterial endocarditis], severe hypertension with blood pressure >160/100, migraines with focal neurologic symptoms, current breast cancer, active viral hepatitis, severe cirrhosis, or benign or malignant liver tumors).
  • Patients who speak languages other than English or Spanish.
  • Patients who do not have a phone or who have a phone where any contact might compromise the confidentiality of their abortions.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: contraception-Immediate start
contraception after abortion and before leaving the clinic, observed by clinic staff
the initiation of the patch after abortion is dictated by the study as opposed to offering several options (i.e. first Sunday of period). For this arm it is to place the patch in the clinic with clinic staff before leaving the clinic
Active Comparator: Contraception-Delayed start
instructed to begin contraception the first Sunday after leaving the clinic
the initiation of the patch after abortion is dictated by the study as opposed to offering several options (i.e. first Sunday of period). For this arm it is to place the patch in the clinic with clinic staff before leaving the clinic

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Use Patch After Abortion, by Study Arm
Time Frame: six months after enrollment/abortion
we will also describe what participants were using two months post-abortion
six months after enrollment/abortion

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Were Using Effective Method at 6 Months Post-enrollment
Time Frame: six months post enrollment
An effective method is defined as a hormonal method or intra-uterine device
six months post enrollment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jody E Steinauer, MD, MAS, University of California, San Francisco
  • Study Director: Sarah W Prager, MD, University of California, San Francisco

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

August 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 6, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 6, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

October 10, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 29, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 14, 2019

Last Verified

August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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