Male contraception is coming: Who do men want to prescribe their birth control?

Objective: To assess men's preferences for healthcare provider from whom they would obtain hormonal male contraceptive (HMC) methods.

Study Design: We asked participants from 3 clinical trials of investigational HMC methods-an oral pill (11β-Methyl-19-nortestosterone-17β-dodecylcarbonate, 11β-MNTDC), intramuscular or subcutaneous injection (Dimethandrolone undecanoate), and transdermal gel (Nestorone and testosterone)-to rank their top 3 preferred HMC providers from a list including: men's health doctor (urologist/andrologist), hormonal doctor (endocrinologist), reproductive health doctor (OB/GYN), family planning clinician (community health worker, midwife, nurse practitioner), regular doctor (family medicine/internal medicine), and community pharmacist. We examined preferences based on their rankings and conducted bivariate analyses. Collapsing the various specialists (men's health doctor, hormonal doctor, reproductive health doctor, and family planning clinician) into a single provider type, we examined participant demographics against provider preference (regular doctor, pharmacist, or specialist).

Results: Participants across the 3 trials (n = 124) ranked their regular doctor (44%) and community pharmacist (18%) as their most preferred HMC provider; these preferences did not differ significantly by trial and drug formulation. Specialists in family planning (13%), men's health (12%), reproductive health (10%), and hormones (4%) were least frequently ranked as their preferred provider. Older and higher educated participants more often preferred specialists over regular doctors and pharmacists (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01).

Conclusions: Despite receiving contraceptive steroid hormones and care from endocrinologists and family planning specialists in a clinical trial, participants would prefer to obtain contraception from their regular doctor.

Implications: As most men expect to obtain hormonal male contraceptives from their regular doctor when commercially available, primary care physicians should become familiar with HMCs and be prepared to provide counseling and options accordingly.