Rural and urban midwestern United States contraception practices

To address a paucity of demographic data on rural United States contraception practices, 370 randomly selected menstruating women, age 13–55 years, living in rural and urban Illinois and Missouri answered interview questions. Women with relatively few children and living in urban areas were likely to practice contraception more than those with relatively few children and living in rural areas, p < 0.01. In Illinois, more rural (23%) than urban (2%) women chose sterilization, p < 0.01. Single status was more frequent in Chicago (41%) and rural Missouri (32%) than in rural Illinois (19%), p < 0.002, and extant research links single status with risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Condom use did not differ significantly by locale, p > 0.05. Urban-rural differences in contraception practices may be a function of life style choices (e.g. urban women may practice contraception to postpone having children, whereas rural women may practice contraception to prevent having more children after families are complete). Results do not strongly support that locale differences in contraception practices are a function of concern about contracting STDs.