Using Focus Group to Explore Cultural Acceptability of Contraception

Following approval by the University of Pittsburgh institutional review board (IRB), female participants between 18 and 45 years of age seeking care for contraception or other women's health services were recruited from seven Family Health Centers (FHCs) partnered with the Department of Family Medicine. The participants agreed to participate in one 2 hour facilitated focus group session (recorded for later transcription) to discuss their perceptions about contraception. Recordings were transcribed and de-identified. The resulting texts were coded by a team. Concepts and themes that arose from the coding were analyzed to inform the development of a survey on the topic of perspectives on contraception. Qualitative analysis of the transcripts and coding was carried out and results were shared in pubic fora.