About the Study
Oral contraceptives (OCs) are one of the most effective, safe and widely-used contraceptive methods available to women worldwide. The US is different from many other countries because women need a health care provider's prescription to obtain their pills. One of our questions is whether women can safely and effectively use oral contraceptives without mandatory contact with a healthcare provider, that is, can women effectively screen themselves for contraindications to the pill. We are also interested in learning about women's experiences with the pill.
We compared the experiences of women who get their pills in clinics in El Paso to those who get their pills in pharmacies in Ciudad Juárez. The El Paso-Ciudad Juárez region creates a unique “natural experiment” in which we can examine many aspects of pill use, using the key variable of whether women obtain pills in the US through clinical screening or in Mexican pharmacies, where practice has been to sell many medications over the counter without prescription.
Our research will answer important questions about the appropriate role of medical supervision in the provision of the pill. In addition, this study will help us better understand the experiences of Hispanic women's contraceptive practice.
The Border Contraceptive Access Study is funded by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin (R01-HD047816-01; Joseph E. Potter, Principal Investigator), the Society of Family Planning and the Center for Border Health Research.
News
Two studies from the Border Contraceptive Access Study featured in medical journal
BCAS researchers have published two papers from the Border Contraceptive Access Study in the March 2011 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. The first paper shows that women who obtain oral contraceptives over the counter in Mexico are likely to stay on the birth control pill longer than those who obtain pills by prescription at U.S. clinics. In the second paper, the researchers found that women who obtained combined oral contraceptives, which contain both synthetic estrogen and progesterone, in Mexico were significantly more likely than U.S. clinic users to have health conditions such as hypertension or smoking over age 34 that may put them at risk while using this type of pill.
To the surprise of the researchers, the first paper was selected for the “Journal Club”, which meant that along with the paper could be found a set of 10 questions that could be used a basis for discussion of the article. Also, appearing on the journal’s web site was Dr. Daniel Mishell's podcast discussion focuses of the two papers as well as a third study appearing in the March issue entitled "Number of Oral Contraceptive Pill Packages Dispensed and Subsequent Unintended Pregnancies."
The BCAS papers were covered in a Time.com story and on a prominent feminist blog.
Links
OCs OTC Working Group web site - The Oral Contraceptives (OCs) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Working Group is a coalition of reproductive health rights and justice organizations, nonprofit research and advocacy groups, university-based researchers, and prominent clinicians who share a commitment to providing all women of reproductive age easier access to safe, effective, acceptable, and affordable contraceptives. The working group was established in 2004 to explore the potential of over-the-counter access to oral contraceptives to reduce disparities in reproductive health care access and outcomes, and to increase opportunities for women to access a safe, effective method of contraception, free of unnecessary control, as part of a healthy sexual and reproductive life.
