IUD IFS, ANDS and BUTS. (FYI).Virtually all obstetrician-gynecologists polled in 2000 agreed that the copper IUD IUD Definition An IUD is an intrauterine device made of plastic and/or copper that is inserted into the womb (uterus) by way of the vaginal canal. One type releases a hormone (progesterone), and is replaced each year. is safe and effective, but few provide the method with great frequency. (1) While 80% of the 357 respondents had inserted IUDs in the last year, only 17% had done more than 10 insertions. By contrast, 49% had inserted at least 21 IUDs during their residency. Half of respondents said that no more than 15% of their patients were appropriate candidates for IUD use. Eight in 10 agreed that a woman should not use an IUD if she is in a nonmonogamous relationship or has a history of pelvic inflammatory disease pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), infection of the female reproductive organs, usually resulting from infection with the bacteria that cause chlamydia or gonorrhea. (PID (1) (Process IDentifier) A temporary number assigned by the operating system to a process or service. (2) (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) The most common control methodology in process control. ), two-thirds if a woman has never given birth or has had a sexually transmitted disease sexually transmitted disease (STD) or venereal disease, term for infections acquired mainly through sexual contact. Five diseases were traditionally known as venereal diseases: gonorrhea, syphilis, and the less common granuloma inguinale, , and three in 10 if she is unmarried. Sixteen percent feared that providing IUDs would leave them open to lawsuits, and 29% believed that a copper IUD increases the long-term risk of PID. In analyses of variance, the fear of litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. , the belief that the IUD causes PID and restrictive criteria for providing the method were associated with low levels of insertion. The investigators contend that "the evidence does not support" physicians' concerns about the IUD and that many physicians' policies are "unduly restrictive." Better physician education, they conclude, could help expand use of the method. (1.) Stanwood NL, Garrett JM and Konrad TR, Obstetrician-gynecologists and the intrauterine device: a survey of attitudes and practices, Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2002, 99(2):275-280. FYI "For your information." See digispeak. FYI - For Your Information is compiled and written by Dore Hollander, executive editor of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. |
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