Creighton Model Effectiveness, Intentions and Behaviors Assessment (CEIBA)

Pregnancy Clinical Trial

— CEIBA  

Official title:

Effectiveness, Intention, and Behavior in Creighton Model NFP Use

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01012596
• Other study ID #: 34487
• Secondary ID: PA-FPR-08-38PA-F
• Status: Completed
• Start date: October 2009
• Est. completion date: May 2013

Study information

• Verified date: February 2022
• Source: University of Utah
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The Creighton Model (CrM) FertilityCare System is a natural family planning method that teaches couples to recognize and chart the signs of fertility and infertility in the woman's cycle and to use that knowledge to either achieve or avoid a pregnancy. The method is natural, safe and effective, and it helps the couple understand their fertility. Trained practitioners at FertilityCare Centers teach the Creighton Model across the country, internationally and long distance.

Several FertilityCare Centers and the University of Utah are conducting a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the Creighton Model (CrM) for new and return users wanting to avoid pregnancy. While past studies have shown that the Creighton Model is a highly effective method, this study will use new ways to measure how well it works. This is important because the knowledge gained will improve comparisons between the Creighton Model and other family planning methods. The study will also explore intentions and behaviors of couples to avoid or achieve a pregnancy.

The investigators hypothesize that for the CrM the pregnancy rate during perfect use to avoid pregnancy will be about 1% and the behaviorally determined avoiding-related pregnancy rate for the CrM will be about 6%. The investigators will also evaluate the pregnancy rate during "typical use" without a previously stated intention to conceive (in CrM terms, a mixture of avoiding and achieving-related behavior).

Description:

There are a variety of natural family planning (NFP) methods available today that differ in algorithm and biomarkers used to identify women's fertile window. This study will directly evaluate the NFP system known as the Creighton Model FertilityCare System (CrM). The Creighton Model System is a well-established educational system about fertility which involves no devices. The CrM teaches women a standardized way of observing and describing their vaginal discharge each day during routine use of the bathroom, and interpreting the changes in vaginal discharge to determine whether they are likely to be fertile that day or not. Vaginal discharge changes as tracked by the CrM are an accurate indicator of the changes in secretions from the uterine cervix that relate to the approach of ovulation.

This study will also examine the relationship between a couple's stated intentions to achieve or avoid a pregnancy during each menstrual cycle with their sexual behavior during the same cycle. There is growing consensus among researchers that current measures of pregnancy intention are simplistic at best, and at worst can be very misleading. One of the purposes of the study is to explore the multiple dimensions of pregnancy motivations, intentions, and behaviors by newer detailed measures.

This study will enroll couples who are new or returning CrM users and who are trying to avoid a pregnancy at the time they begin use of the CrM. The participants will be recruited from CrM FertilityCare Centers. The design is a prospective cohort study, which is the optimal study design to assess different measures of effectiveness and intendedness simultaneously in a group of NFP users. Several of the key measures of intention and behavior required for this study must be assessed prior to the outcome of actual use of CrM over time and the outcome of pregnancy, to avoid recall bias. Outcomes for this study require relatively precise assessment of the timing of both intentions and behaviors, which is simply unavailable from recall. We plan to enroll at least 300 and up to 400 couples in the study. This represents 60% (300/497) of the estimated available and eligible couples learning the CrM for use to avoid pregnancy in one year at the participating FertilityCare Centers.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 624
• Est. completion date: May 2013
• Est. primary completion date: October 2012
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 40 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being a new or return user of the Creighton Model with the stated intention of avoiding pregnancy

• Sexually active or planning to be sexually active within 6 months of the enrollment date (relevant to some engaged couples who learn CrM)

• The woman is between the ages of 18 to 40

• The man is age 18 or older

• The woman has had at least 2 menstrual flows in the past 3 months or at least one menstrual flow since stopping hormonal birth control

• The woman is able to complete questionnaires in English

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of infertility

• Confirmed pelvic inflammatory disease, surgically confirmed untreated endometriosis, chemotherapy (either man or woman), or radiation to the reproductive tract (either man or woman)

• Hysterectomy, oophorectomy (ovary removed), tubal ligation, fallopian tube surgery, surgery for ectopic pregnancy, removal of a testicle (orchiectomy) or vasectomy

• Depo-Provera injection any time in the past 2 years

• Totally breastfeeding an infant, without any supplements

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Fertility
• Pregnancy

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Creighton Model System of Natural Family Planning
Participants will learn the Creighton Model, a standardized method of natural family planning, from FertilityCare Practitioners from established FertilityCare Centers. The learning can be done in-person or long distance.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Canada	Marguerite Bourgeoys FertilityCare Programme	Toronto	Ontario
United States	St. Joseph FertilityCare Center	Albuquerque	New Mexico
United States	FertilityCare Center of Kansas City	Blue Springs	Missouri
United States	Center for Women's Health, Spirit FertilityCare Services	Camp Hill	Pennsylvania
United States	Northland Family Programs: A FertilityCare Center	Duluth	Minnesota
United States	FertilityCare Center of North Texas	Fort Worth	Texas
United States	FertilityCare Services: Diocese of Charleston, SC	Greer	South Carolina
United States	Women's FertilityCare Services of Houston	Houston	Texas
United States	FertilityCare Center, Diocese of Lincoln	Lincoln	Nebraska
United States	FertilityCare Services St. Joseph Hospital	Nashua	New Hampshire
United States	FertilityCare Center of Omaha	Omaha	Nebraska
United States	Caritas FertilityCare Center	Pataskala	Ohio
United States	Sacramento Diocese FertilityCare Services	Sacramento	California
United States	St. John's Mercy Medical Center, Department of FertilityCare Services	Saint Louis	Missouri
United States	Twin Cities FertilityCare Center	Saint Paul	Minnesota
United States	If you don't find a center near you, contact us for Long Distance Learning	Salt Lake City	Utah
United States	Intermountain FertilityCare Center	Salt Lake City	Utah
United States	FertilityCare Center of the Upper Ohio Valley	Weirton	West Virginia

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Utah	Department of Health and Human Services

Countries where clinical trial is conducted

United States,  Canada, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Pregnancy rates during perfect and typical use of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System (CrM) to avoid pregnancy in a way directly comparable to the approach used in recent family planning effectiveness studies		1 year
Secondary	The intention status of all pregnancies according to standard measures of intended, mistimed and unwanted pregnancy while recognizing the significant limitations of these measures		1 year

External Links

•   Study Website