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Abstract
Objective To determine (1) the proportion of women with epilepsy (WWE) at risk of unintended pregnancy who use highly effective contraception, (2) demographic predictors, and (3) folic acid (FA) use.
Methods These cross-sectional data come from 311 US WWE, 18–47 years, who participated in the Epilepsy Birth Control Registry (EBCR) web-based survey in 2017. They provided demographic, epilepsy, antiepileptic drug (AED), contraceptive, and FA data. We report frequencies of highly effective contraception use and use logistic regression to determine demographic predictors. We report the proportion who take FA.
Results A total of 186 (59.8%) of the 311 WWE were at risk of unintended pregnancy. A total of 131 (70.4%) used a highly effective contraceptive category; 55 (29.6%) did not. An additional 13 (7.0%) used a combination of generally effective hormonal contraception with an enzyme-inducing AED, which poses increased risk of unintended pregnancy. Overall, 68 (36.6%) of the 186 WWE at risk did not use highly effective contraception. Increasing income (p = 0.004) and having insurance (p = 0.048) were predictors of highly effective contraception. A total of 50.0% took FA supplement. There was no significant difference in relation to the use or lack of use of highly effective contraception.
Conclusion A total of 36.6% of WWE in the EBCR did not use highly effective contraception and 50.0% did not take FA in 2017 despite the important negative consequences of unintended pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes. There is a need for more readily available information and counseling on safe and effective contraception and FA use for this community.
Glossary
- ACOG=
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists;
- AED=
- antiepileptic drug;
- CI=
- confidence interval;
- EBCR=
- Epilepsy Birth Control Registry;
- EIAED=
- enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drug;
- FA=
- folic acid;
- InhAED=
- enzyme-inhibiting antiepileptic drug;
- IUD=
- intrauterine device;
- NEIAED=
- non-enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drug;
- RR=
- relative risk;
- WWE=
- women with epilepsy
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
- Received September 17, 2018.
- Accepted in final form February 8, 2019.
- © 2019 American Academy of Neurology
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