IUD continuation rate and the reasons for discontinuation in women referring to Bandar Abbas health centers, Iran

Introduction: TCU-380 A IUD is one of the safest and widely used methods
reversible of contraception. The purposes of this study were to determine
continuation rate and its determinants and also the reasons for discontinuation of the
TCU-380A IUD in women who referred to health centers of Bandar Abbas.
Methods: The population studied in this retrospective survey was women who had
started using TCU-380A IUD from early 2003 to late 2005 by referring to Bandar
Abbas health centers. A total of 400 subjects were selected randomly by multistage
sampling method. Data were collected from documents in health centers and interview
with subjects. Life tables, Kaplan-Meier, and cox regression model used for data
analysis by SPSS 13 statistical software.
Results: The continuation rate of using TCU-380A IUD between 6 month, 1, 1.5, 2,
2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 years were 92%, 87%, 81%, 75%, 69%, 62, 56% and 50%,
respectively. Counseling and desire for having child in the future were significantly
associated with continuation of TCU-380A IUD (P<0.03). The main reasons for
discontinuations were bleeding (23.6%), side effects (21.1%), planning pregnancy
(16.3%), pain (11.4%), health concerns (8.9%), spontaneous (6.5%) and
dissatisfaction with the method (5.7%).
Conclusion: Holding educational workshops for health workers about counseling on
family planning and empowering them, counseling before TCU-380A IUD insertion,
informing women about side effects and regular check-up visits is recommended to
increase the IUD continuation rate.