---
name: contraception-assessment
description: Use when asked to administer, score, or explain a Contraception Assessment — eligibility screening across 11 methods using UK Medical Eligibility Criteria (UKMEC) — grounded in FormExamples/form-examples; closely related to birth-control-assessment.
---

# Contraception Assessment

Contraceptive method eligibility screening using UKMEC (UK Medical
Eligibility Criteria) categories for 11 contraceptive methods.

## Scoring

**Instrument:** UKMEC. Categories 1–4 (see
[[birth-control-assessment]] for the category definitions, which are
identical since both assessments apply the same UK MEC framework).

## What it covers

Demographics; reproductive history; menstrual history; current
contraception; medical history; cardiovascular risk; lifestyle factors;
preferences and priorities; breast and cervical screening status; and
family planning goals.

## Relationship to birth-control-assessment

This assessment and [[birth-control-assessment]] both apply UK MEC
categorization to contraceptive suitability; this one is explicitly
scoped to screening across 11 named methods, giving a per-method
category rather than a single overall recommendation. Check which
framing (per-method screening vs. general suitability) a given context
needs.

## Common pitfalls

- **Assigning one UKMEC category across all methods** — eligibility is
  method-specific; a person can be UKMEC 4 for combined hormonal
  methods (e.g. due to migraine with aura) while being UKMEC 1 for a
  progestogen-only or non-hormonal method.
- **Not revisiting eligibility as circumstances change** — age,
  smoking status, BMI, and new diagnoses can all shift a UKMEC category
  over time; treat it as current-state, not permanent.
- **Ignoring patient preference in favor of the "safest" category** —
  UKMEC guides medical eligibility, not the final choice; a method with
  a higher (but still acceptable) category may still be the right
  choice given the patient's priorities.

## Learn more

- [FormExamples: contraception-assessment](https://github.com/FormExamples/form-examples/tree/main/forms/contraception-assessment) for the full implementation, clinical references, and worked examples.
- [[birth-control-assessment]], [[fertility-assessment]], [[hormone-replacement-therapy-assessment]] for related reproductive-health assessments.