Pharmacists Expand Access to Reproductive heaLthcare

Pharmacists Expand Access to Reproductive Healthcare: Reducing Unintended Pregnancy Through Pharmacist Prescription of Contraception

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT03830567

Acronym

PEARL

Enrollment

471

Registered

2019-02-05

Start date

2019-01-27

Completion date

2022-02-28

Last updated

2024-04-04

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Contraception

Keywords

Hormonal Contraception, Birth Control, Pharmacists

Brief summary

Prospective cohort study of women presenting to initiate hormonal contraception, prescribed by a clinician or pharmacist. Women will be followed for one year to assess contraceptive continuation and unintended pregnancy rates, as well as measures of safety and acceptability.

Detailed description

Direct prescription of hormonal contraception (HC) by pharmacists, without a doctor's visit or medical prescription, is a strategy to improve access to contraception and reduce unintended pregnancy. Oregon is the first state in the nation to implement legislation, as of January 1, 2016, expanding the scope of pharmacists to prescribe short-acting HCs. House Bill (HB) 2879 allows pharmacists to directly prescribe HC including the patch and pill, without a medical prescription. Women over 18 years of age can either initiate or continue HCs with a pharmacist, and women under 18 can continue a prescription. This prospective cohort study of women presenting to initiate hormonal contraception, prescribed by a clinician or pharmacist, aims to determine contraceptive continuation and incident pregnancy rates between women receiving hormonal contraception from a pharmacist versus other prescriber. Women will be followed for one year to assess contraceptive continuation and unintended pregnancy rates.

Interventions

OTHERPharmacist prescription

Pharmacist prescribed hormonal contraception (initiation or continuation).

OTHERClinician prescription

Clinician prescribed hormonal contraception (initiation or continuation).

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

FEMALE

Age

18 Years to 51 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Women presenting to initiate hormonal contraception at a study pharmacy

Exclusion criteria

* Pregnancy * Contraindications to hormonal contraception * Under 18 years of age * Unable or unwilling to consent

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Contraceptive continuation rates	12 months	Percentage of contraceptive continuation assessed through survey at 12 months among women who present for contraception in pharmacies.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026