Female adolescents' perceptions of benefits of and barriers to using oral contraceptives

Attitudes of Female Patients regarding Oral Contraceptives for Treatment of Acne

Background:

Two hormonal agents with contraceptive properties are currently indicated in Canada for treatment of acne.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes and concerns of female patients regarding the use of hormonal agents and oral contraceptives in treatment of acne.

Methods:

A self-completed questionnaire was administered to all female acne patients of a community-based dermatologist over a 10-week period between June and August 1999. Statistical analysis was performed by chi-square testing at the 5% significance level.

Results:

Eighty-six percent recognized that oral contraceptives (“birth control pills”) were also used as a treatment for acne and 60% were willing to use this form of treatment. The most common concern regarding the use of oral contraceptives were side effects (80%). Younger patients were seven times more likely to be concerned about potential disapproval or misunderstanding on the part of others regarding the use of these medications ( p ∼ 0.01).

Conclusion:

Female acne patients recognize that oral contraceptives are useful in treatment of acne. Although side effects of these medications are of general concern, social disapproval is of particular concern to younger patients.

Health promotion with adolescents: examining theoretical perspectives to guide research

A guiding theoretical framework in research serves not only to guide a single research study, but also to link previous and future research that is guided by the same framework. Existing theoretical perspectives appropriate for use with adolescent health promotion research were reviewed. Instead of randomly selecting several theories for comparison, an intensive review of the literature was conducted to identify which theories were most commonly used with adolescent health promotion research. The results of this review revealed some interesting and noteworthy information regarding the state of theory use in adolescent health research for the last decade. Information is provided on theoretical perspectives by journal and year of publication. Trends are analyzed so that nurses can evaluate the current state of the science. Social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), the health belief model (Becker, 1978), and the health promotion model (Pender, 1996) emerged as the most significant theories for adolescent health promotion research and thus are discussed at the end of the article.

An oral contraceptive perception scale for female adolescents

This study sought to develop the initial psychometric properties of a female adolescent oral contraceptive perception scale. Based on qualitative data, a 39-item scale of perceived benefits and barriers was developed, reviewed by adolescence experts and adolescents, and voluntarily completed by 407 female adolescents enrolled in family planning clinics. After item analysis, 15 items were deleted. Maximum likelihood factor analysis with varimax rotation yielded two barrier (relationship-oriented and oral contraceptive regimen) and four benefit (relationship-oriented, pregnancy prevention related to self, pregnancy prevention related to others, personal responsibility) factors that accounted for 53% of the variance. The scale had acceptable reliability (alpha coefficients ranged from 0.71 to 0.87). The scale should be beneficial to further research in this area.