Discrepancies seen between young people’s preferred, actual sources of contraceptive info

There are discrepancies between preferred and actual sources of contraceptive information for U.S. adolescents and young adults (AYA), according to a research letter published online Sept. 13 in JAMA Network Open.

Elizabeth Pleasants, Dr.P.H., from the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues examined AYAs’ preferred and actual sources of contraceptive information and assessed associations with reporting sufficient contraceptive information. The analysis included data from the online 2023 Thanks, Birth Control Survey (1,150 AYAs aged 15 to 29 years).

The researchers found discrepancies between AYAs’ preferred and actual sources of contraceptive information and variations by age. Clinicians were the most commonly preferred source (68% among those younger than 18 years, 84% among 18- to 24-year-olds, and 87% among 25- to 29-year-olds). However, clinicians were less commonly the actual sources (33% among those younger than 18 years, 43% among 18- to 24-year-olds, and 50% among 25- to 29-year-olds).

Websites were reported more often as a preferred rather than actual source among older participants (36 versus 18% among 18- to 24-year-olds and 38 versus 17% among 25- to 29-year-olds). Social networking sites were less commonly preferred (6% among those younger than 18 years, 12% among 18- to 24-year-olds, and 10% among 25- to 29-year-olds), but were the second most common actual source for respondents ages 18 years and older (28% among 18- to 24-year-olds and 18% among 25- to 29-year-olds).

“Clinician engagement in online health education may be one strategy to help AYAs access preferred contraceptive information,” the authors write.

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