Aim In Mexico, many pharmacies sell oral contraceptives (OCs) over the counter (OTC); however, little is known about the background characteristics of OTC pill users. The primary objective of this study was to understand the characteristics of OTC OC users in Mexico, including whether there were differences by age, urbanicity, and insurance status. This information is instructive as other countries explore allowing OTC access to OCs. Methods We analysed the nationally representative 2014 Mexican National Survey of Demographic Dynamics (ENADID) among a sample of OC users aged 15–54 years (n=1970). We performed multivariable logistic models to understand the characteristics associated with OTC access, with age, urbanicity, and insurance status as our primary predictors of interest. Additionally, we descriptively explored knowledge of how frequently to take OCs by pill source and age. Results Some 54% of pill users, including 66% of those aged 15–17 years, obtained their OCs OTC. In multivariable regression we found no differences in OTC access by age. However, being uninsured (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.86, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.82) (compared with employer-based public insurance) and living in an urban area (AOR 4.73, 95% CI 3.37 to 6.66) (compared with rural area) were associated with a higher odds of OTC access among pill users. Women’s knowledge of how frequently to take OCs was similar between OTC and prescription users within age groups. Conclusions These findings point to the importance of OTC availability of OCs for pill users of all ages and uninsured and urban women in Mexico in particular. Data are available in a public, open access repository. The data for this analysis are available here: .

中文翻译：

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墨西哥妇女使用非处方口服避孕药：全国调查结果

目标 在墨西哥，许多药店在柜台 (OTC) 上销售口服避孕药 (OC)；然而，对非处方药使用者的背景特征知之甚少。本研究的主要目的是了解墨西哥 OTC OC 用户的特征，包括是否存在年龄、城市化和保险状况的差异。当其他国家探索允许 OTC 访问 OC 时，此信息具有指导意义。方法 我们分析了 2014 年墨西哥全国人口动态调查 (ENADID) 的全国代表性 15-54 岁 OC 用户样本（n=1970）。我们执行了多变量逻辑模型以了解与 OTC 访问相关的特征，年龄、城市化和保险状态是我们感兴趣的主要预测因素。此外，我们通过药丸来源和年龄描述性地探索了服用 OC 的频率。结果 大约 54% 的药丸使用者，包括 66% 的 15-17 岁的人，获得了他们的 OCs OTC。在多变量回归中，我们发现不同年龄的 OTC 访问没有差异。但是，未投保（调整后的优势比 (AOR) 1.86，95% CI 1.23 至 2.82）（与基于雇主的公共保险相比）并且居住在城市地区（AOR 4.73，95% CI 3.37 至 6.66）（与农村相比）区域）与药丸使用者更高的 OTC 访问几率相关。女性对服用 OC 的频率的了解在年龄组内的非处方药和处方药使用者之间相似。结论 这些发现表明，OCs 的 OTC 可用性对于所有年龄段的药丸使用者，尤其是墨西哥的未投保和城市女性的重要性。数据公开，开放存取存储库。此分析的数据可在此处获得：.