A survey of the effects of oral contraceptive patient information.

A nationwide survey of 1,720 current and 949 former oral contraceptive (OC) users gathered information about receipt, readership, knowledge, opinions, and reported behavioral changes induced by two forms of patient-oriented OC information. A substantial majority of women said they received and read the patient insert dispensed with the drug. However, only about one third of pill users said that they received the longer informational brochure supplied by physicians on patient request. Directions for use and side effects were the most often recalled information. Physician-patient contact patterns were reported as generally unaffected by written patient information. Respondents preferred the longer informational brochure to the insert. Survey results have implications for recently proposed changes in required OC patient information and for the development of patient information on additional prescription drugs.