Spanish women's attitudes towards menstruation and use of a continuous, daily use hormonal combined contraceptive regimen.

BACKGROUND

The main objective of this survey was to explore the attitude of Spanish women towards menstruation, as well as their acceptability of a daily, continuous, combination oral contraceptive regimen.

STUDY

DESIGN

National survey carried out in Spain in 2006. A total of 588 women aged between 18 and 45 years old answered an anonymous questionnaire that included questions regarding menstruation and acceptability of new contraceptive regimens.

RESULTS

Overall, 24.5% of women expressed interest in using the continuous oral contraceptive regimen. This percentage increased up to nearly 50% in women younger than 25 years old and those not using any contraceptive method but willing to use them in the future.

CONCLUSION

The attitude of Spanish women towards menstruation observed in this survey seems to be more conservative than that obtained in other recent international surveys. An improvement in the education provided by practitioners would help women to make informed decisions.