We examined the effect of becoming HIV-positive on contraceptive practices in a randomized controlled trial. We compared changes in the balance using each category of contraception from the baseline to the previous visit. We calculated the percentage of women that moved to a more or less effective method category or stayed the same. We examined immediate and long-term changes in contraceptive use category after learning HIV-positive status.
Four thousand six hundred forty-five women remained HIV-negative, and 309 became HIV-positive. The proportion using each category of contraception was similar between groups at baseline and last visit. In both groups, approximately one-fifth changed to a less effective method category between baseline and last stop. Few women reported using long-acting methods. Among HIV-positive women, shorter-term changes in the proportion using each contraception variety were similar to longer-term changes, though somewhat more women were using a process in the same category three months after seroconversion.
The study concluded that learning about HIV-positive status did not appear to significantly change patterns of use of effective contraceptives or the probability of switching to a more or less effective method.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/37/4/204
