Consider the source.

Advance provision of emergency contraception may have greater impact than both clinic and pharmacy access, according to results of a randomized trial conducted among family planning clinic clients in the San Francisco Bay area in 2001-2003. (1) During the six-month study period, 29% of the 1,950 participants used emergency contraception; those who had been given the method in advance were significantly more likely to use it than were women who had direct pharmacy access and women who had to see a clinician to obtain it, but the level of use did not differ between the last two groups. Eighty-three percent of women who used the method took the first dose within 24 hours after having unprotected sex. Compared with women who had to visit a clinician, those who had received the method in advance were more likely to begin use within 24 hours (odds ratio, 2.4); again, however, the pharmacy access group did not differ from the controls. Similarly, 92% of users considered the method convenient to use, but only women who had received it in advance were more likely than those who had to make a clinic visit to find it convenient (4.3). Although the nature of the sample limits the generalizability of the findings, the researchers contend that "promotion of advance provision will be imperative to improving access and use."

(1.) Rocca CH et al., Beyond access: acceptability, use and nonuse of emergency contraception among young women, American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2007, 196(1):29.e1-29.e6.

FYI is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.