High levels of women's satisfaction and compliance with transdermal contraception: results from a European multinational, 6-month study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate compliance, satisfaction, and preference in women using a transdermal contraceptive patch. METHODS: Women (18–6 years) from eight European countries used contraceptive patches (norelgestromin 6 mg, ethinylestradiol 600 μg for six, 4-week treatment cycles. Compliance, satisfaction, and preference were assessed after 3 and 6 cycles and study completion using self-report methods. RESULTS: Of the 778 participants, 36.8% (n = 287) used no contraception at baseline. The most common methods were oral contraceptives (67.9%, n = 334) and barrier methods (21.5%, n = 106). Of oral contraception users, 63.5% (n = 212) were satisfied or very satisfied with their previous method, but compliance was poor with 77.8% (n = 260) reporting missed doses. After 3 and 6 cycles, > 80% of all included women were satisfied or very satisfied with the patch. At study completion, most participants (73.7%) reported a preference for the patch compared to their previous method. Of 4107 cycles, 3718 (90.5%) were completed with perfect compliance. Two pregnancies occurred during this study, representing a Pearl Index of 0.63. No new safety issues were identified and the patch was well tolerated. CONCLUSION: Women were highly satisfied with transdermal contraception and preferred this form of family planning over their previous method. Transdermal contraception represents a valuable addition to contraceptive options with potential to offer high compliance and efficacy.