Public Health Scotland has published the data for 2019-2020 on the prescription of long-acting reversible methods of contraception (LARC) to women aged 15-49 years in primary care and sexual health settings. LARC includes contraceptive implant, intrauterine device (IUD) and intrauterine system (IUS).
Key points from the report are as follows:
- LARC prescription rates have generally remained stable in recent years at around 52 per 1000 women; however, rose slightly to 54 per 1000 women in 2019-2020, this being the highest rate since reporting began in 2013-2014.
- Contraceptive implant was the most commonly used LARC method with a prescribing rate of 26 per 1000 women.
- The prescribing rate for IUS was 21 per 1000 women and that for IUD was 7 per 1000 women. Both IUS and IUD have witnessed a steady increase in rates in recent years.
- The LARC type being prescribed varied by age. Women aged less than 35 years had a higher likelihood of being prescribed contraceptive implant, whereas those aged 35 years and above were more likely to be prescribed IUS.
- NHS Dumfries & Galloway had the highest LARC prescribing rate amongst the mainland NHS Boards in Scotland (68 per 1000 women).
This article originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.
