Internet counseling on contraception by the Study Group for Contraception in Korea

I.S. Lee (1), D.S. Choi (2), K.J. Hwang (3), H. W. Jung (4), C.S. Ahn (5), S. K. Hong (6), H. K. Lee (7), Y. H. Hwang (8)

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soonchunhyang University (1), Sungkeunkwan University (2), Ajou University (3), Ehwa University (4), Ahn Hospital (5), Chungdam Marie Hospital (6), Inje University (7), Schering Korea (8), Seoul, Korea

Objective: To introduce 4 years of data collected from an internet website on contraception counseling by obstetricians of the Study Group for Contraception.

Methods: The cumulated data, including number of visitors, page views, utilization of contraception contents, on-line counseling and its contents from the internet home page, www.piim.or.kr, owned and operated by the Study Group for Contraception in Korea from March 1999 to December 2002, was analyzed.

Results: The number of visitors to the homepage grew tremendously from 129,769 in 1999 to 1,537,751 in 2002. Also, the number of page views increased from 1,556,877 in 1999 to 9,957,462 in 2002. The most frequently visited topic was general information on contraception; whereas the second most frequently visited was the on-line counseling site. The number of counseling requests ranged from 300 to 700 each month. The three most frequently asked questions were related to oral contraceptives, emergency contraception, and pregnancy probability, respectively. The questions in relation to oral contraceptives increased annually from 9.8% in 1999 to 33.3% in 2002; it could show the changing trend of oral contraceptive use. Questions in relation to oral contraceptives were on methods of administration and dosage (25%), side effects (23%), indications (11%), contraindications (8%), non-contraceptive use (9%), missed doses (8%), and other (6%).

Conclusion: This study indicates that the investigated website has been providing appropriate knowledge and information on contraception and has proven itself to be an effective communication tool to further enhance understanding of contraception in Korea via its user-friendly approach. However, the on-line website limits certain communication, such as improper delivery of information by unauthorized on-line users. We also need to make it even more user-friendly and attractive to young people in their teens and twenties. These kind of people especially do not frequent hospitals, do need this kind of information and do surf the net all the time. Hence, this kind of counseling website has much potential.