An analysis of an online oral contraceptive service
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An analysis of oral contraceptive service use and case mix to assess contraindications among users of face-to-face and online services
IRAS ID
283332
Contact name
Paula Baraitser
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
SH:24
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 23 days
Research summary
SH:24 provides an online contraception service, which is commissioned by the NHS, delivering contraceptive care remotely 24 hours a day. It is an emerging concept in England offering an alternative, more convenient service to face-to-face clinics, releasing clinical capacity and reducing costs.
Online contraception services have taken time to gain traction in England. During this time, published research suggests that contraception can be provided safely and effectively online, enabling face-to-face clinics focus on complex health needs. The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care has published guidelines on good practice for online contraceptive service provision however it suggests that more research is required to adequately understand how to provide online services .
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a natural experiment, whereby face-to-face sexual health services were forced to close due to social distancing. This resulted in many areas of England rapidly shifting services online. Given the increasing number of online users, we intend to contribute to the literature by studying activity within an online service commissioned by the NHS across 19 areas in England. We aim to:1. Describe the characteristics of the population using an online contraception service that is commissioned in 19 areas of England using SH:24’s routinely collected data set, and compare these to users of face-to-face services in the same areas one year earlier using the routinely collected national Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Data Set
2.Document the complexity of the case mix of users by describing the contraindications to the pill reported by those ordering oral contraception from SH:24’s online service
3.Understand the clinical workload required to assess contraindications online and via text message and the outcomes of this assessment
4.Understand the characteristics of effective text message interactions that facilitate a prescription
We will analyse twelve months of routinely collected data.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SC/0373
Date of REC Opinion
28 Sep 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion