Beyond the Surface

• Main Authors: Anita Ravi (Author), Linda Prine (Author), Gabrielle deFiebre (Author), Susan E. Rubin (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: SAGE Publishing, 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2150-1319; 2150-1327; 10.1177/2150131916666011
• Keywords: Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics; R858-859.7; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, Vol 8 (2017)

Purpose: To describe rates of and reasons for follow-up among adolescents and adults receiving contraceptive implants in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Methods: Retrospective comparison of patient-initiated implant-related contacts during the 6 months postinsertion among adolescents (110) and adults (154) who had implants placed at a FQHC network. Results: Forty percent of adolescents and 26% of adults initiated follow-up ( P = .016). Bleeding changes and discussing removal were the most common reasons for follow-up for both groups. Adolescents (5.5%) and adults (9.0%) had similar removal rates ( P = .348). However, among patients who discussed implant removal, adults were more likely to have removals compared with adolescents ( P = .002). Conclusions: Other FQHCs may anticipate a similar experience to ours, where adolescents may be more likely than adults to initiate implant-related follow up, with removal rates of less than 10% at 6 months. Further study of physician decision making and patient autonomy regarding implantable contraception removal requests is warranted.