Pattern of discontinuation of intrauterine copper T 380a at the University College Hospital, Ibadan: a ten-year review.

Aims And Objectives: Intrauterine contraceptive device is a highly acceptable method of contraception, however despite it sacceptability many users still discontinue its use for various reasons, this study was embarked upon to determine the rate of its discontinuation and the factors associated with its discontinuation.

Materials And Methods: It was a retrospective study of 10 years duration starting from January 1997 to December 2006 at the University College Hospital, Ibadan. A total of 6,515 had insertion of IUCD (Copper T380 A) over the study period and 1,295(19.9%) discontinued within the period with the highest discontinuation rate being the first year while the least discontinuation rate was the 9th year.

Results: The commonest reason for discontinuation was the desire for pregnancy which accounted for 665(51.4%) of removal followed by menopause in 225(17.4%), no reason was found in 204(15.7%), side effects accounted for 101(7.8%) of removal, husbands wish 53(4.1%) and changing to another method accounted for 47(3.6%) of removal. The reasons for discontinuation were significantly associated with the clients age, side effects, number of living children and their educational status.

Conclusion: The rate of discontinuation is still high especially because of the desire to get pregnant while some even discontinued for no reason. It therefore becomes imperative for providers of family planning to further enlighten the populace on the benefit of limiting their family size and to also encourage the prolonged use of the device in those who discontinue for no reason by improving on our counseling methods.