Intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD): acceptability and effectiveness in a tertiary institution.

This was a retrospective study of 2648 clients who accepted intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUCDs) at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital between January 1990 and December 1996 and were analyzed for socio-demographic characteristics, side-effects, complications , reasons for discontinuation in relation to duration of use, age and parity. There were 6178 acceptors of family planning methods giving an IUCD's acceptance rate of 42.9%. The mean age and parity of the acceptors were 31.7 +/- 5.7 years and 4 respectively. Most of the clients were married and had formal education. Of the 859 (32.4%) clients who discontinued the use of method to plan for another pregnancy 799 (93%) were in the age range 20-34 years; while 756 (88%) of them were parity one to four. 294 (49%) out of the 600 (22.7%) continuous users already had 5 to 6 children. The continuation rate at the end of one year and two years respectively were 75.1% (1989) and 61.7% (1633). 3.8% (101) discontinued the use of the method because of heavy bleeding. Removal for pelvic inflammatory disease was 1.7% (44); out of which 0.2% (6) discontinued use in the first 3months of insertion. Expulsion rate was 2.5% (65). The first year expulsion rate was 2.1% (55); out of which 43.6% (24) occurred in the first 3months. Unexpected pregnancy occurred in 0.3% (9). In conclusion the IUCD method of family planning was found to be the most commonly chosen, highly effective with a high continuation rate at one year. The side effects and complications were minimal.