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.
