Migrant women in Istanbul clinic show lower modern contraceptive use than host community

A retrospective descriptive study analyzed 17,226 women (8,632 host community, 8,594 migrant) attending a tertiary family planning clinic in Istanbul between January 2014 and December 2024. The study compared contraceptive practices by migrant status, with host community women serving as the comparator group. The primary outcome was modern contraceptive use, with secondary outcomes including traditional method use and non-use.

Modern contraceptive use was significantly higher among host community women (63.5%) than among migrants (39.3%). After adjustment, migrant status remained independently associated with lower odds of modern contraceptive use (aOR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.46–0.57). Migrants showed greater reliance on traditional methods (31.4% vs. 12.8% in host community), with withdrawal being particularly common (27.4% of migrants). Non-use was also higher among migrants (25.1% vs. 6.5% in host community).

Safety and tolerability data were not reported. Key limitations include the single-center setting in Istanbul, which may limit generalizability to other regions or healthcare settings. The observational design cannot establish causality, though the association persisted after adjustment. Funding and conflicts of interest were not reported. For clinicians serving diverse populations, these findings suggest awareness of potential disparities in contraceptive access and method preferences between migrant and host community women could inform patient-centered counseling.