Author(s)

John Dimkpa Ojule^*, Emmanuel Okwudili Oranu

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Background: While the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) is one of the most commonly used methods of birth control especially in the developed countries, robust and current information on the pill use in developing countries including Nigeria is at best lacking. Objectives: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence rate, efficacy and side effects of COCP at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria. Methods: It was a retrospective analysis of all clients who used the COCP between 1^st January 1997 and 31^st December, 2016, at the family planning clinic of UPTH Port Harcourt. Data on sociodemographic profile, side effects and source of information were extracted from the clients’ case notes coded and fed into Excel spread sheet and analysed. Results: Of the 8310 new acceptors of modern contraceptive methods in UPTH, 399 clients used the COCP, giving a prevalence rate of 4.8%. The mean age of the acceptors was 26.42 ± 4.27 years while the mean parity was 1.90 ± 0.36. Menstrual disruption was the most common complications with 78 episodes constituting 47.0% of all the complications. One unintended pregnancy occurred during the period of observation, giving a Pearl index of 0.01. Conclusion: The study showed that although COCP is very effective, readily available, safe and reliable method of fertility control, the acceptance rate is very low and the patronage rapidly declining and may therefore go into extinction as a family planning method in Port Harcourt, Southern, Nigeria.

Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill, Nigeria, Port Harcourt, Twenty Years

Ojule, J. and Oranu, E. (2017) Combined Oral Contraceptive Use at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria: A-20 Year Review. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 5, 7-17. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2017.56002.