National Survey of Americans and Health Care Providers on Emergency Contraception – Toplines/Survey
1997 Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Americans on Emergency Contraception
Conducted for the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
By Princeton Survey Research Associates
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Survey of Americans on Emergency Contraception
The 1997 Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Americans on Emergency Contraception examined public knowledge and attitudes regarding unplanned pregnancy and contraception, with a particular focus on emergency contraceptive pills. The survey, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates for Kaiser Family Foundation, consisted of telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1000 women and 300 men aged 18 to 44 years old living in telephone households in the continental United States. The interviews were conducted from May 13, 1997 through June 8, 1997. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent for the national sample, plus or minus 3 percent for women, and plus or minus 6 percent for men.
The surveyors called back potential respondents 15 times before removing them from the sample, achieving a response rate of 59 percent. Averaging 15 minutes in length, all interviews were conducted by female interviewers. Respondents were told they would be participating in “a confidential national opinion survey about some important health issues.” Of those who agreed to be interviewed, 6 percent (89 people) terminated the interview before it was completed. The analyses reported here weight the data to be proportional to the actual U.S. population’s demographic characteristics with respect to gender, race, age, income and educational attainment.
The 1995 Kaiser Survey on Public Knowledge and Attitudes on Contraception and Unplanned Pregnancy, conducted by Louis Harris Associates for Kaiser Family Foundation, examined public knowledge and attitudes regarding the magnitude and scope of unplanned pregnancy and various contraceptive options, including emergency contraceptive pills. The national random sample consisted of 2,002 adults, 18 years of age and older, and was conducted between October 12 and November 13, 1994. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent for Americans 18-44, plus or minus 4 percent for women 18-44, and plus or minus 4 percent for men 18-44.
All interviews were matched for gender of the interviewer and respondent. The surveyors called back potential respondents four times before discarding them from the sample. Among 4,000 women and men contacted by telephone, 1,000 women and 1,002 men completed the survey, for an overall response rate of 50 percent. One hundred and eighty one individuals out of the 4,000 (4%) refused the survey outright, and 1868 (46%) terminated the interview before it was completed. The analyses reported here weight the data to be proportional to the actual U.S. population’s demographic characteristics with respect to gender, race, age, educational attainment, and health insurance status.
Survey of Health Care Providers on Emergency Contraception
The 1997 Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Health Care Providers on Emergency Contraception was designed by Kaiser Family Foundation and Fact Finders, Inc. and conducted by Fact Finders, Inc. The national telephone survey, which included 754 women’s health care providers, including 305 obstetrician-gynecologists, 236 family practice physicians, and 229 nurse practitioners and physician assistants, examined knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding reproductive health services, with a focus on emergency contraception. Using three separate random probability samples, Fact Finders, Inc. drew nationally representative samples of obstetrician-gynecologists, family practice physicians and nurse practitioners from the American Medical Association Physicians Masterfile. Obstetrician-gynecologists and family practice physicians were drawn directly from the Masterfile, while the sample for nurse practitioners/physician assistants was drawn from a separate sample of obstetrician-gynecologist and family practice offices. The statistical sampling error associated with the overall findings based on a random probability sampling of 300 ranges from plus or minus 3.4 to plus or minus 5.7 percent (+/- 3.4-5.6% for Ob/Gyns, +/- 3.7-6.2% for family practice physicians, and +/- 3.7-6.2% for nurse practitioners and physician assistants). Fact Finders, Inc., contacted providers by phone and facsimile to schedule phone interviews which took place between March 5, and June 12, 1997. Health care providers were contacted up to 15 times before being discarded from the sample, with refusal rates of 18 percent for the obstetrician-gynecologists, 22 percent for the family practice physicians, and 2 percent for the nurse practitioners/physician assistants.
The 1995 survey was a national telephone survey of 307 obstetrician-gynecologists and 154 family practice physicians, examining knowledge and attitudes toward unplanned pregnancy and contraception, including emergency contraceptive pills. Fact Finders, Inc. drew separate nationally representative samples of obstetrician-gynecologists and family practice physicians from the American Medical Association Physicians’ Masterfile and contacted them by phone and facsimile to schedule phone interviews which took place between February 1 and March 21, 1995. Physicians were contacted up to 15 times before being discarded from the sample, with a refusal rate of 23 percent. The statistical sampling error associated with the overall findings based on a random probability sampling of 307 ranges from plus or minus 3.4 to plus or minus 5.7 percent for obstetrician-gynecologists and plus or minus 4.8 to plus or minus 8.0 percent for family practice physicians. The survey respondents mostly practiced in urban and suburban locations, in solo or single-specialty group practices, were men and were between the ages of 40 and 64. Those refusing to respond to the survey were similar to the respondents with respect to practice characteristics, age and gender patterns, and geographic diversity.