iud survival and its determinants; a historical cohort study

background : iud is one of the safest and most widely used reversible methods of contraception. the purpose of this study was to determine iud survival and reasons for early discontinuation in bandar abbas, south of iran. methods: probability of iud continuation rate and factors associated with discontinuation were assessed in a historical cohort study of 400 women records from march 2002 to february 2004. data were collected from documents in health centers and interview with subjects. life tables, kaplan- meier, log-rank test and cox regression model were used for data analysis. results: the continuation rate of using iud at 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42 and 48 month were 92%, 87%, 81%, 75%, 69%, 62%, 56% and 50%, respectively. counseling and desire to becoming pregnant were associated with continuation rate ( p < 0.03). furthermore the most important reasons for iud discontinuation were side effects of iud followed by pregnancy tendency, health concerns, expulsion, and unsatisfied with the method. conclusion: this study suggested that women should be fully informed about side effects of iud before inserting it as well as during its using.