Contraceptive Practices of Women Attending the Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic in Nashville, Tennessee

Abstract

Data from the Metropolitan Health Department in Nashville, Tennessee, were examined to determine the effects of particular contraceptive methods on gonococcal infection in women. The results suggest that not only barrier methods but also other types of contraception were associated with protection against gonorrhea in females. The use of contraception was unusually high (87%) among the study population of 1303 women; 518 (40%) of these clinic attendees were infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Infected women tended to be younger than those not infected and were significantly more likely to be black than white and somewhat more likely to be single. Contraceptors tended to be younger and were more likely to be black than were noncontraceptors.