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US Govt Spends Nearly $350K to Determine ‘Sexually Acceptable' Contraceptives

US' National Institutes of Health (NIH) has shelled out $346,176 to fund a University of Wisconsin-Madison study that is looking to determine what method of birth control women find "sexually acceptable," the Washington Free Beacon reported Wednesday.
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The study's objective is to essentially follow women using birth control for a year with the hopes of figuring out which method of contraception they prefer best when it comes to having sex. The study previously received $372,740 from NIH went it was launched in Fall 2017.

"High rates of contraceptive dissatisfaction, switching, and discontinuation in the US demand new approaches to contraceptive acceptability and promotion," the study's NIH portfolio states. "Behavioral models of contraceptive use have failed to address sexuality, even though contraception is designed for sexual activity."

Aside from documenting a contraceptives' acceptability among women, officials outlined in the program abstract that it will "determine associations between sexual acceptability and continuation over time" and "set the stage for the creation of new, more valid sexuality measures to be used in future reproductive health research and interventions."

The study is expected to continue through March 2021.

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