Departmento de Psicología Clínica, Psicobiología y Metodología, Facultad de Psicología, Campus de Guajara, Universidad de La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de Tenerife, Spain.
Servicio Canario de la Salud, 38071 San Cristóbal de Tenerife, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 28;18(21):11308. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111308.
There is a high dropout rate of oral contraceptive pills (OCP), mainly due to a lack of adherence to treatment. The aim of this study was to identify the psychological processes and attitudes toward medication involved in adherence to OCP, depending on the prescription, to avoid unintended pregnancies (AUP) or gynecological problems (GP).
This cross-sectional study was conducted by asking 689 young women in the fertile period, mean age 23.41 (SD = 5.90), to complete questionnaires related to attitudes, beliefs, psychological reactance, locus of control, and adherence to contraceptive medication. Descriptive analyses and a binary logistic regression were performed.
The results confirmed that different beliefs and psychological processes were involved in adherence to oral contraception, based on women's reasons for taking contraceptive medication. More psychological processes were involved in non-adherence in the AUP group than in the GP group. Psychological reactance contributed most to explaining non-adherence in women who used the OCP to prevent unintended pregnancies. Conversely, women with gynecological problems reported difficulties in adherence, mainly due to their beliefs about contraceptive pills.
These findings indicate that attitudes toward medication and psychological processes can play an important role in adherence to OCP, including reasons for using the pill. Identifying the psychological factors and beliefs linked with contraception could guide health professionals to provide counseling to women, thus increasing their adherence to medication and maximizing their health and well-being.
口服避孕药（OCP）的停药率很高，主要是由于治疗依从性差。本研究的目的是确定与 OCP 依从性相关的药物治疗的心理过程和态度，以避免非意愿妊娠（AUP）或妇科问题（GP）。
本横断面研究通过要求 689 名处于生育期的年轻女性（平均年龄 23.41 [SD=5.90] 岁）填写与态度、信念、心理阻抗、控制源和避孕药物依从性相关的问卷。进行描述性分析和二元逻辑回归分析。
结果证实，根据女性服用避孕药的原因，OCP 依从性涉及不同的信念和心理过程。在 AUP 组中，与 GP 组相比，不依从的心理过程更多。在因预防 AUP 而使用 OCP 的女性中，心理阻抗对不依从的解释作用最大。相反，有妇科问题的女性报告在依从性方面存在困难，主要是因为她们对避孕药的信念。
这些发现表明，对药物的态度和心理过程可以在 OCP 的依从性中发挥重要作用，包括使用避孕药的原因。确定与避孕相关的心理因素和信念可以指导卫生专业人员为女性提供咨询，从而提高她们对药物的依从性，最大限度地提高她们的健康和幸福感。
