(Press-News.org)
Self-administered injectable contraceptives have been available in the United States for more than two decades, yet a new study has found only about a quarter of reproductive health experts prescribe it — and many are unaware it’s even an option.
Researchers surveyed 422 clinicians who regularly prescribe birth control and found that only about a third of those who were aware of the option prescribe it. The providers said they were concerned about their patients’ ability to self-inject, the medication’s availability at pharmacies, and the lack of standardized approaches to counseling and prescribing it.
The study is the first to document the barriers that prevent widespread adoption of self-administered injectable contraception. It was published Jan. 8 in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
“Since most physicians don't know that this is an option, patients don’t know about it,” said Jennifer Karlin, MD, PhD, a UCSF associate professor of Family and Community Medicine and the paper’s senior author. “It’s safe, effective, and puts the control in patients’ own hands. We should be talking about and offering it to patients without biases.”
Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) is an injectable form of progestin, which is a synthetic form of the natural hormone progesterone. The drug prevents pregnancy for up to three months by stopping ovulation, thickening cervical mucus, and thinning the uterine lining.
DMPA is available in two injectable forms: an intramuscular injection, marketed under the name Depo Provera, that can only be administered by a provider, and one that is injected just under the skin. This subcutaneous version can be easily self-injected, like the now popular injectable GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
The drug has been associated with potential side effects, such as reduced bone mineral density, weight gain, and a benign brain tumor called meningioma. While the overall risk of these side effects is low, it is important that clinicians discuss the risks and benefits with their patients.
The subcutaneous version, approved in 2004, is officially labeled for administration by a clinician, but doctors have been training patients to self-inject safely for many years. Self-injectable contraception is more commonly used globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. It became more widely used in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the study found more than half the prescribers surveyed learned about it between 2020 and 2022.
Both international and national guidelines recommend making this option accessible to all patients, but the study found that providers in states with restricted abortion access were less likely to prescribe it. Other obstacles include insufficient educational materials, lack of staff support, and limited time for consulting with patients.
To make the option more widely available, the authors recommend an education campaign for clinicians about self-administration of injectable contraceptives. They also advocate for FDA approval of the version of the injectable that can be self-administered, as well as ensuring that insurance cover it and streamlining clinic workflows.
Authors: Additional authors include Chase Clark, of UC Davis; and An-Lin Cheung, PhD, and Laura Creason, MS, of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Funding: The work was supported by a grant from the Society of Family Planning (SFPRF16). The authors had nothing to disclose.
About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF’s primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF School of Medicine also has a regional campus in Fresno. Learn more at https://ucsf.edu or see our Fact Sheet.
###
Follow UCSF
ucsf.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | Twitter.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf
END
When a house catches on fire, we assume that a smoke alarm inside will serve one purpose and one purpose only: warn the occupants of danger. But imagine if the device could transform into something that could fight the fire as well.
In a new study in today’s issue of Science, a multi-institutional team lead by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine has shown in mice that the body’s “pain alarms” ― sensory neurons ― actually have such a dual function. In the event ...
UC Irvine astronomers found an unexpectedly large stream of super-heated gas at nearby galaxy.
The team used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories.
Project funding was provided by NASA and the National Science Foundation.
Irvine, Calif., Jan. 8, 2026 —University of California, Irvine astronomers have announced the discovery of the largest-known stream of super-heated gas in the universe ejecting from a nearby galaxy called VV 340a. They describe the discovery in Science.
The super-heated gas, detected by the researchers in data provided by NASA’s ...
Pioneering research led by Brazilians describes the immune system’s reactions in detail in the first living patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant. This paves the way for the search for therapies that can prevent organ rejection.
The study demonstrates the feasibility of this type of graft but indicates that controlling initial rejection alone is insufficient. This is because even with immunosuppressants, continuous activation of innate immunity – the body’s first line of defense, especially macrophages, which react to any threat – can compromise ...
A recent study led by Colgate Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Cosmin Ilie, in collaboration with Jillian Paulin ’23 at the University of Pennsylvania, Andreea Petric of the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Katherine Freese of the University of Texas at Austin, provides answers to three seemingly disparate, yet pressing, cosmic dawn puzzles. Specifically, the authors show how dark stars could help explain the unexpected discovery of “blue monster” galaxies, the numerous early overmassive black hole galaxies, and the “little red dots” in images ...
According to a new study by researchers at Yale and the University of Missouri, chemical catalysts containing manganese — an abundant, inexpensive metallic element — proved highly effective in converting carbon dioxide into formate, a compound viewed as a potential key contributor of hydrogen for the next generation of fuel cells.
The new study appears in the journal Chem. The lead authors are Yale postdoctoral researcher Justin Wedal and Missouri graduate research assistant Kyler Virtue; the senior authors are professors Nilay Hazari of Yale and Wesley Bernskoetter of ...
A group of “gifted word learner” dogs can learn new words that label objects by overhearing their owners talking with each other, according to a new study by Shany Dror and colleagues. These dogs can map a new word to a new object even when the word and object are not presented simultaneously. Together, these abilities put these special dogs at the same word-learning level as 18 to 23-month-old children, Dror et al. conclude. Their findings suggest that humans are not the only animals that can learn new labels by overhearing third-party interactions. The researchers ...
In topological condensed matter physics, where major discoveries could hold big implications for fields like information technology, the reliability of such discoveries could be greatly enhanced by taking several steps, like presenting larger sets of data, say Sergey Frolov and colleagues. Their insights are based in part on four original experiments they did that correspond to either theory predictions or published work. “Overall,” write the authors, “although replication crises are typically perceived to be a problem in fields less quantitative than physics, the overemphasis on smoking- gun claims has the potential to affect the reliability of findings irrespective of field.” ...
After rising for decades in the United States, opioid overdose deaths have been declining dramatically since 2023, with the annual rate of fentanyl overdose deaths dropping by more than a third by the end of 2024. What’s behind this sudden decline? In this Policy Forum, Kasey Vangelov and colleagues evaluate the evidence for an international supply shock in fentanyl in 2023 and conclude that it could be responsible for the steep decline in overdose deaths. Studying the ups and downs of an illegal drug economy is difficult, but the researchers use data from several sources, ...
“Honey, will you take Luna to the P-A-R-K?” both parents and dog owners know that some words should not be spoken, but only spelled, to prevent small ears from eavesdropping on the conversation. At the age of 1.5 years toddlers can already learn new words by overhearing other people. Now, a groundbreaking study published in Science reveals that a special group of dogs are also able to learn names for objects by overhearing their owners’ interactions.
Similarly to 1.5 -year-old toddlers, that are equally good in ...
Every time we smile, grimace, or flash a quick look of surprise, it feels effortless, but the brain is quietly coordinating an intricate performance. This study shows that facial gestures aren’t controlled by two separate “systems” (one for deliberate expressions and one for emotional ones), as scientists long assumed. Instead, multiple face-control regions in the brain work together, using different kinds of signals: some are fast and shifting, like real-time choreography, while others are steadier, like a held intention. Remarkably, these brain patterns appear before the face even moves, meaning the brain starts ...
