Emergency contraceptive use as a marker of future risky sex, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infection.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to examine whether emergency contraceptive use predicts future sex at risk for pregnancy, pregnancy, or sexually transmitted infection among young women. A secondary analysis of control group participants (n = 718) from a recent trial of advanced provision of emergency contraception was conducted. We found no association between use of emergency contraception and either pregnancy or infection. Recent use predicted decreased occurrence of subsequent sex at risk for pregnancy among women with a history of sexually transmitted infection (relative risk [RR], 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.15-0.97), whereas ever having used predicted increased occurrence among women who either were highly effective method users (RR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.05-2.01) or had no history of sexually transmitted infection (RR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.04-1.65). Information about prior emergency contraceptive use was not a useful predictor of subsequent pregnancy, infection, or sex at risk for pregnancy among these young women.