ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2015
Using patient-held records to evaluate contraceptive use in Malawi.
Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Revisiting the use and effectiveness of patient-held records in rural Malawi.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Family planning providers and contraceptive users in Rwanda employ strategies to prevent discontinuation.BMC women's health · 2021Article
- Retention of patient-held medical records for chronic diseases in Mozambique.The Pan African medical journal · 2021Observational
- "New Users" Are Confusing Our Counting: Reaching Consensus on How to Measure "Additional Users" of Family Planning.Global health, science and practice · 2017Article
- Postpartum uptake of contraception in rural northern Malawi: A prospective study.Contraception · 2016Article
- Contraceptive Dynamics in Rural Northern Malawi: A Prospective Longitudinal Study.International perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate a method of using patient-held records to collect contraception data in Malawi, that could be used to explore contraceptive discontinuation and method switching.
methodsIn 2012, all 7393 women aged 15 to 49 years living in the area covered by the Karonga demographic surveillance site were offered a family planning card, which was attached to the woman's health passport - a patient-held medical record. Health-care providers were trained to use the cards to record details of contraception given to women. During the study, providers underwent refresher training sessions and received motivational text messages to improve data completeness. After one year, the family planning cards were collected for analysis.
findingsOf the 7393 eligible women, 6861 (92.8%) received a family planning card and 4678 (63.3%) returned it after one year. Details of 87.3% (2725/3122) of contacts between health-care providers and the women had been recorded by health-care providers on either family planning cards or health passports. Lower-level health-care providers were more diligent at recording data on the family planning cards than higher-level providers.
conclusionThe use of family planning cards was an effective way of recording details of contraception provided by family planning providers. The involvement of health-care providers was key to the success of this approach. Data collected in this way should prove helpful in producing accurate estimates of method switching and the continuity of contraceptive use by women.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.