Exploring older adolescents' and young adults' attitudes regarding male hormonal contraception: applications for clinical practice.

BACKGROUND

Male hormonal contraceptive methods (HCM) are in Phase I clinical trials in the USA. International studies report that adults have positive attitudes regarding male HCM, but little is known about US minority young peoples' attitudes--a population that experiences high unintended pregnancy rates.

METHODS

Thirty urban African American young persons [50% males; mean age = 18.8 (SD = 2.5)] participated in semi-structured interviews to explore attitudes regarding male HCM. Data were independently analysed by two researchers according to qualitative research methodology, including transcript coding for content, categorization of codes, performance of content analysis for theme development, and corroboration of findings by a third researcher.

RESULTS

The data revealed five major themes that can facilitate and/or hinder male HCM adoption: (1) impact of reversing roles in HCM use; (2) men's lack of involvement in health care; (3) men's reliability to use HCM effectively; (4) perceived responsibility of men who use HCM; and (5) men's apprehension to use new medicines. Overall, participants had positive impressions about male HCM (67% male; 67% female) and female partner trust of males' use was high (85%), as were males' intentions (60%).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide a foundation for clinical interventions including: (1) increasing males' involvement in reproductive health; (2) helping males to overcome apprehensions about male HCM safety; and (3) standardizing male HCM education in the clinical setting. Future research efforts should examine whether study findings hold for other populations.