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Natural family planning effectiveness: evaluating published reports

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Advances in Contraception

Abstract

Objective: To equip the reader with the tools necessary to evaluate studies of natural family planning (NFP) effectiveness found in the literature and to make recommendations for future NFP effectiveness studies.

Design: Current standards to evaluate contraceptive method effectiveness are reviewed. A framework for evaluating reports on NFP is presented.

Results: Most NFP studies found in the literature are flawed in design and do not calculate pregnancy rates correctly. The results from the few well-designed studies are presented.

Discussion: Many factors influence NFP effectiveness, and these factors must be considered when evaluating published studies and designing future studies.

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Lamprecht, V., Trussell, J. Natural family planning effectiveness: evaluating published reports. Advances in Contraception 13, 155–165 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006595703472

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006595703472

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