Mid-life Women: Preventing Unintended Pregnancy and STIs (FemRepro_2)

Oregon Center for Applied Science

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Reproductive Health

Treatments: Behavioral: Women's Reproductive Health; Behavioral: Online sexual health content

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Industry; NIH

Identifiers

NCT02330133

SBIR64R-2

R44HD044374 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Mid-life women, aged 35-50, are currently an underserved population in the areas of unintended pregnancy and STI prevention interventions. Common perception is that women in this age range are no longer sexually active, or are past the menopause transition, but in reality, sexual activity remains stable through mid-life and into the post-menopausal years. Additionally, physiological and relationship status changes (e.g. divorce or death of a partner) put these women at increased risk for both unintended pregnancy and STI's. This project developed and evaluated a theoretically-based multimedia intervention designed to assist mid-life women in protecting themselves from sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy.

Full description

The primary aim of this project was to create and evaluate a theoretically-based, interactive multimedia program for women aged 35-55 to assist them in avoiding unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The intervention, titled "Women's Reproductive Health: A guide to staying healthy," addressed these concerns across the life span and was designed to increase knowledge about (a) pregnancy risk; (b) STI risk; (c) strategies to prevent STIs and unintended pregnancy; (d) influences of sexual partners on risk reduction decisions and behaviors; (e) partner communication techniques; and (f) health care provider communication techniques.Overall features of the program include video, interactive tools, animations, text information pages, and various links both across and within specific modules to link related information. A feature titled "My Notes" allowed the user to save content from the program into an easily retrievable repository.

Motivational videos featuring friendly mid-life hosts could be viewed on the first page of each module, as well as on the home page and topic introduction pages. These videos not only provided specific information about the content, they also provided message framing and set the tone of the program segment. Other videos included testimonials on topics such as contraceptive methods, sexually transmitted infections, and other health information. Interactive materials include an assessment checklist for STI risk, a quiz to help the user identify the types of birth control methods that best fit her lifestyle and preferences, as well as several checklists

Enrollment: 333 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 25 to 55 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Women aged 25-55.

Exclusion criteria

• Males
• Women under 25 years of age and over 55

Trial design

333 participants in 2 patient groups

Women's Reproductive Health

Experimental group

Description:

Targeted text and video information on website for women aged 25-55 to avoid unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections

Treatment:

Behavioral: Women's Reproductive Health

Online sexual health content

Active Comparator group

Description:

Online general text-based information about reproductive health issues and STD prevention strategies

Treatment:

Behavioral: Online sexual health content