Surg Obes Relat Dis

Background:Clinical practice guidelines recommend women avoid pregnancy immediately after bariatric surgery, highlighting the need for effective contraception. However, women with a history of malabsorptive bariatric procedures should generally not use oral contraceptives, as these procedures may decrease contraceptive effectiveness.Objectives:To identify provider characteristics associated with knowledge of COC effectiveness.Setting:United StatesMethods:We analyzed weighted survey data collected from national samples of public-sector health centers and office-based physicians who regularly provide family planning services (n=2,060). We asked providers about the effectiveness of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) for women with a history of malabsorptive procedures compared with healthy women (more/equally effective, less effective, do not know). We used multinomial logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to identify characteristics associated with COC effectiveness knowledge.Results:Approximately 55% of providers correctly answered that COCs are less effective for women with malabsorptive procedures; 25% considered COCs more/equally effective, and 20% were uncertain. Among public-sector providers, the adjusted odds of uncertainty was significantly higher for those whose clinical focus was not reproductive health, for nurses versus advanced practice clinicians, and for those without Title X funding. For office-based physicians, adolescent medicine providers had higher odds of uncertainty versus obstetrician-gynecologists. Physicians practicing in settings other than private clinics (such as community health centers) had higher odds of considering COCs effective compared with those practicing in hospital or university clinics.Conclusions:Substantial proportions of surveyed providers have inadequate COC effectiveness knowledge for women with a history of malabsorptive procedures.CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States2019-09-04T00:00:00Z31311756PMC67219986629vault:3383