ArticleContraception2018
Pharmacy access to Ulipristal acetate in major cities throughout the United States.
Article in Contraception, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring Postpartum Use of Advance Provision of Ulipristal Acetate and Its Promotion of Reproductive Autonomy.O&G open · 2025Article
- Pricing of oral emergency contraception by German community pharmacies - a nationwide mystery caller investigation.Medicine and pharmacy reports · 2025Article
- Oral emergency contraception practices of community pharmacies: a mystery caller study in the capital of Germany, Berlin.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- Emergency contraception subsidy in Canada: a comparative policy analysis.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- A Nationwide Mystery Caller Evaluation of Oral Emergency Contraception Practices from German Community Pharmacies: An Observational Study Protocol.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Pharmacy availability of emergency contraception in southwestern Pennsylvania: A simulated patient study.Contraception: X · 2021Article
- Dispensing and Variabilities in Pricing of Headache OTC Medicines by Community Pharmacies in a German Big City: A Simulated Patient Approach.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2021Article
- Expanding Pharmacy Capacity for Patient-Centered Reproductive Health Services.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Population Geography and Emergency Contraception Access in Louisiana.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- The Quality of Counselling for Oral Emergency Contraceptive Pills-A Simulated Patient Study in German Community Pharmacies.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Emergency Contraception Access and Counseling in Urban Pharmacies: A Comparison between States with and without Pharmacist Prescribing.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- "The Difference between Plan b and ella®? They're Basically the Same Thing": Results from a Mystery Client Study.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- "My BMI is too high for Plan B." A changing population of women seeking ulipristal acetate emergency contraception online.Women & health · 2020Article
- Emergency Contraception Counseling in California Community Pharmacies: A Mystery Caller Study.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
- State of emergency contraception in the U.S., 2018.Contraception and reproductive medicine · 2018Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveUlipristal acetate (UPA) is a prescription emergency contraceptive pill (ECP). Despite the potential for UPA to reduce the risk of unintended pregnancies, a recent study in Hawaii demonstrated less than 3% of pharmacies stocked UPA and less than 23% reported the ability to order it. The primary outcome of our study was to assess the availability of UPA in a sample of large cities nationwide. STUDY
designWe conducted a telephone-based secret shopper study of 533 retail pharmacies sampled proportionally from 10 large cities in five geographic regions across the US. Callers represented themselves as uninsured 18-year-old women attempting to fill prescriptions for UPA between February and May 2016. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, callers inquired regarding availability and use of UPA.
resultsLess than 10% (33/344; 95% CI: 6.5-12.7%) of pharmacies indicated the ability to immediately fill a UPA prescription, while 72% (224/311; 95% CI: 65.0-77.0%) of pharmacies without immediate availability reported the ability to order UPA, with the median predicted wait time of 24 h (IQR: 21.5 to 26.0 h).
conclusionDespite evidence for increased efficacy of UPA over levonorgestrel (LNG) ECPs, the availability of UPA in a sample of US major cities is extremely limited. Given that ECPs should be taken as soon as possible after unprotected sex, the long wait times when ordering UPA present an access barrier. Efforts to improve the availability of UPA are important to optimize the potential of ECPs to decrease unintended pregnancy following unprotected sex. IMPLICATIONS: Interventions are needed to address barriers to obtaining UPA from retail pharmacies nationwide.
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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.