Acceptability of Long-acting Reversible Contraception Among Women in Childbearing-age: A Literature Review.

Abstract

Modern contraceptive methods, mainly long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), are effective in reducing unwanted pregnancies while helping family planning. However, the adoption of LARCs is influenced by several factors such as safety concerns, side effects, cost, accessibility, and socio-demographic and cultural variations. This literature review investigates patterns of LARC use, and barriers to the adoption of LARCs, A review of materials was carried out systematically from databases including PubMed, and Google Scholar. The keywords include “Childbearing age women”, “LARCs”, “Acceptability”, “Barriers to modern contraceptives”, and “Traditional and modern contraceptive methods”. Articles that were written in the English language and published between the year 1978 and 2024 were considered to the review. The articles published before the year 1978, studies concerned only with male contraception and non-peer-reviewed articles; were excluded. The study reviewed 12 articles including 724,101 participants in which 9 cross-sectional studies, 1 a narrative literature review, 1 controlled interrupted time series design, and 1 a policy-focused narrative review with expert consensus recommendations. The literature review revealed that modern contraception is well-known, but attitudes and social barriers prevent widespread implementation. Older, married women, and those who do not plan to have children are more likely to adopt LARC procedures. Contraceptive use varies by level of education such that less educated women use traditional and educated women use modern contraceptives once they experience negative side effects. Contraceptive use is influenced by health and culture, and thus programs must intervene on misinformation, improve partner communication, and educate on the value and safety of modern contraceptives.