[Choice of contraception in relation to sexual activity among younger women in Nuuk/Godthåb (Grönland) and in Nykøbing Falster (Danmark). A population-based cross-sectional study among 1,247 women].

Contraceptive habits in relation to sexual activity were investigated in a population-based cross-sectional investigation. A total of 661 women from Nykøbing Falster and 586 women from Nuuk/Godthåb in Greenland participated. The women, who were in the age group 20-39 years, were selected at random from the census and all underwent a personal interview. Both in Godthåb and in Nykøbing Falster a "non-barrier" method of contraception was the commonest method employed, regardless of the number of sexual partners. In Godthåb, the majority had thus employed IUDs and in Nykøbing Falster, oral contraception was the method most employed. In Godthåb, 9-22% had employed condoms on one or other occasion and the prevalence of this was found to increase with the number of sexual contacts. In Nykøbing Falster 57-63% had employed condoms but no significant variation was observed between various categories of numbers of partners in this area. From the point of view of prevention of sexually transmitted disease, it is striking that among women with greater than or equal to 20 sexual partners, approximately 79% and approximately 40% in Godthåb and Nykøbing Falster, respectively, had never employed condoms or diaphragms. In future, it will be important to investigate the patterns of sexual behaviour in various cultures and their development during the course of time in order to advise a population on the basis of the norms found in the culture concerned.