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  • Title: Women find arcing-spring diaphragm easier to insert, studies indicate.
    Journal: Contracept Technol Update; 1986 Apr; 7(4):41-2. PubMed ID: 12340681.
    Abstract:
    2 studies from a major university report that arcing-spring diaphragms are more likely to be inserted correctly and to have a lower contraceptive failure rate than flat-spring diaphragms. The studies, performed at a large, midwestern university student health center, show improper insertion rates greater than 15% for flat-spring diaphragms compared with 3% for arcing-spring devices. The overall contraceptive failure rates for patients using flat-spring and arcing spring diaphragms were 6.2% and 4.2%, respectively. In the 1st study, completed in 1983, 268 women with no previous diaphragm experience were fitted with flat-spring (FS) diaphragms or arcing-spring (AS) diaphragms. 126 patients returned to be checked for proper insertion and size of their diaphragms. Of the 65 returning patients with AS diaphragms, 2 had improperly placed diaphragms that were not covering the cervix. Of the 61 returning women with FS diaphragms, 10 had failed to properly place their diaphragms. In the 2nd study, a retrospective review of student health records from 1978-80, 48% of 410 patients returned for postfitting examinations. Of those returning patients, 58% had FS devices and 39% had AS diaphragms. The study revealed the low failure rates noted above for both types of diaphragms. The key to effective diaphragm use is having the patient demonstrate her ability to insert the diaphragm correctly before relying on it as a contraceptive, according to Johanna L. Sholder, nurse at the university's student health center. The student health clinic gives each patient an educational session before prescribing a diaphragm. The session includes counseling on the use and care of the diaphragm, demonstrations on a plastic pelvic model, and educational handouts.
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