Side effects are a primary reason why women stop using contraception, even though they may still want to avoid a pregnancy. The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), the largest source of nationally representative data on contraceptive discontinuation, only asks women who discontinued a method their reasons for discontinuation, for which side effects is an option. Yet, side effects are also experienced by continued users. Using longitudinal data collected from a cohort of contraceptive users in Odisha and Haryana, India, this study explores the effect of side effect severity and frequency on six-month discontinuation. Among women who experienced side effects of their enrollment method, 49.7 percent continued to use it by the six-month interview. Women who experienced moderate/severe side effects infrequently were 67 percent (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.33; 95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 0.16–0.64) less likely to discontinue the enrollment method compared to women who experienced moderate/severe side effects always. Women who experienced mild side effects were even less likely to discontinue (AOR: 0.15; 95 percent CI: 0.06–0.37). Study results suggest side effect severity and frequency are more important factors than simply the experience of a side effect in understanding contraceptive discontinuation. DHS and other national surveys should expand their exploration of side effects to include questions asked of current users.

中文翻译：

---

并非所有经历副作用的女性都会停止避孕方法：印度纵向研究的见解


副作用是女性停止使用避孕药的主要原因，尽管她们可能仍然想避免怀孕。人口与健康调查 (DHS) 是有关停用避孕药具的全国代表性数据的最大来源，它只询问停用某种方法的女性停用避孕药具的原因，其中副作用是一种选择。然而，持续使用者也会遇到副作用。本研究利用从印度奥里萨邦和哈里亚纳邦避孕药具使用者队列收集的纵向数据，探讨了副作用严重程度和频率对六个月停药的影响。在经历过注册方法副作用的女性中，49.7% 的女性在六个月的采访中继续使用该方法。与经历中度/重度副作用的女性相比，很少经历中度/重度副作用的女性有 67%（调整后优势比 [AOR]：0.33；95% 置信区间 [CI]：0.16–0.64）停止入组方法的可能性较小总是有影响。经历轻微副作用的女性停药的可能性更小（AOR：0.15；95% CI：0.06-0.37）。研究结果表明，在理解避孕药停药方面，副作用的严重程度和频率比单纯的副作用经历更重要。国土安全部和其他国家调查应扩大对副作用的探索，包括向当前使用者提出的问题。