Birth Control Assessment

Contraceptive suitability evaluation using UK Medical Eligibility Criteria (UK MEC) categories, with comprehensive risk profiling for DVT, cardiovascular disease, BMI, smoking, and migraine with aura.

Scoring

Instrument: UK MEC for Contraceptive Use. Categories 1–4:

• UK MEC 1 — no restriction for use of the method.
• UK MEC 2 — advantages generally outweigh theoretical or proven risks.
• UK MEC 3 — theoretical or proven risks usually outweigh the advantages.
• UK MEC 4 — unacceptable health risk if the method is used.

What it covers

Demographics; menstrual history; contraceptive history; medical history; cardiovascular risk factors; thromboembolism risk; current medications; lifestyle assessment; contraceptive preferences; and clinical recommendation.

Relationship to contraception-assessment

This assessment and Contraception Assessment both apply UK MEC categorization; Contraception Assessment explicitly screens across 11 named contraceptive methods, while this one is framed around general suitability and risk profiling. Check which framing a given context expects.

Common pitfalls

• Applying a UK MEC category without checking for combined risk factors — UK MEC categorizes risk per condition; someone with multiple moderate risk factors (e.g. smoking plus migraine with aura) can have a combined risk the individual-condition category doesn't capture on its own — UK MEC guidance addresses this explicitly.
• Using an outdated UK MEC edition — the criteria are periodically revised; verify against the current edition rather than a cached version.
• Treating UK MEC 3 as an automatic exclusion — category 3 means risks usually outweigh benefits, not an absolute contraindication; clinical judgement and patient preference still matter.

Learn more

• FormExamples: birth-control-assessment for the full implementation, clinical references, and worked examples.
• Contraception Assessment, Hormone Replacement Therapy Assessment, Fertility Assessment for related reproductive-health assessments.