Experience of taking Oral Contraceptives in Adult Women

Lee, Soon Hee; Lee, In Young; Kim, Eun Ae

doi:2017.23.4.265

Korean J Women Health Nurs > Volume 23(4); 2017 > Article

Original Article

Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing 2017;23(4):265-275.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2017.23.4.265 Published online December 27, 2017.

Experience of taking Oral Contraceptives in Adult Women

Soon Hee Lee, In Young Lee, Eun Ae Kim

¹Department of Nursing, Korea National University of Transportation, Jeungpyeong, Korea. nhlee@ut.ac.kr
²College of Law, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea.
³Ewha Institute for Social Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to explore essences and meanings of using oral contraceptives among adult women.
METHODS
The interview was conducted with 20 adult women who lived in Seoul, Gyeongi Province, Jeolla Province, Chungcheong Province, and Gangwon Province. Participants with the experience of using oral contraceptives for contraception were selected by convenience sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method.
RESULTS
Five themes revealed: ‘Lack of information and knowledge regarding oral contraceptives’, ‘Inconvenient and difficult purchase process of oral contraceptives’, ‘Pressure and fear regarding other people's reaction’, ‘Self-centered thinking toward the use of oral contraceptives’, ‘A need for a change in public awareness and policy’.
CONCLUSION
A change in society's perception about oral contraceptives is required for safe contraceptives use. Therefore, it is necessary to educate the correct usage of oral contraceptives, and to develop a program for changing the paradigm of sex education.

Key Words: Adult women; Oral contraceptives; Qualitative research