Fewer and fewer young women in Germany use birth control pills.
This was reported by the newspapers of the Funke media group (Saturday editions), citing an evaluation by the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK).
According to this, a third (33 percent) of female 14 to 19-year-old insured persons had the birth control pill prescribed in 2020.
Five years ago, this value was still 44 percent, according to the report.
According to the information, the decline is particularly strong among 18- and 19-year-olds - i.e. in the age groups who take the pill most frequently: In 2015, 67 percent of 18-year-old women insured with TK received at least one pill prescription, in 2020 it was only still 50 percent.
According to the report, there was a similar development among 19-year-olds: the proportion of prescriptions fell from 72 percent to 53 percent.
“We can only speculate about the exact reasons.
In any case, there is more awareness of the topic than it was a few years ago, ”said TK's head of pharmaceuticals, Tim Steimle, to the newspapers.
The decline may also be related to the reporting on pills of the so-called newer generation, which overall have a higher risk of thrombosis.
According to the report, TK evaluated routine data from insured persons up to 19 years of age, or from 2019 to 21 years of age.
The reason for this is that the statutory health insurances have been covering the costs of prescription contraceptives since the spring of 2019 up to the age of 22.