The DHS Program

Contraceptive Discontinuation, Failure, and Switching in Cambodia (English) 

Document Type

Further Analysis

Publication Topic(s)

Family Planning

Country(s)

Cambodia

Survey

Cambodia DHS, 2014

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Wang, Wenjuan, and Rathavuth Hong. 2017. Contraceptive Discontinuation, Failure, and Switching in Cambodia. Further Analysis of the 2014 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey. DHS Further Analysis Reports No. 105. Rockville, Maryland, USA: ICF.

Download Citation

RIS format / Text format / Endnote format

Publication Date

July 2017

Publication ID

FA105

Abstract:

Contraceptive prevalence, a measure that represents the proportion of women who currently use a contraceptive method, does not take into account the duration or interruption of use, or changes in method, which have an impact on the effectiveness of contraceptive use. Using data from the 2014 Cambodia Demographic and Health survey, this study estimated rates of contraceptive discontinuation, failure, and switching, including reasons for discontinuation, among married women age 15-49, and estimated the associations with selected socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. The study found that one in every four women surveyed discontinued their contraceptive method during the first year of use. The two most commonly cited reasons for discontinuation were desire to become pregnant and health concerns with the method, while cost or access were rarely reported as reasons for discontinuation. Higher discontinuation rates were associated with lower parity, younger age, being in the poorest household quintile, and intention to space births. Method switching was uncommon. The highest switching rates were found for male condoms and injectables, and the lowest for implants. The overall 12-month contraceptive failure rate was 4%, but it was much higher among users of traditional methods such as rhythm (11%) and withdrawal (10%). Users of IUDs and implants had almost no risk of contraceptive failure.