Outcomes
SECONDARY
The primary outcomes considered in this study are the shares of clients who adopted (i) a LARC, (ii) a SARC, or (iii) neither. We denote the last group as having adopted neither although it includes clients who adopted LAM, condoms, or other traditional methods. We mainly focus our attention on the adoption of LARCs due to low demand for SARCs among our study population (table S2 provides a detailed breakdown of the method mix pre- and postcounseling). The primary outcomes are constructed using data collected on the tablets, which are cross-checked with hospital administrative records that are further verified by a third-party independent auditor. A nonnegligible number of clients do not adopt a method during their initial visit but return to HGOPY to adopt a method later—e.g., after taking some time to think about their decision; having discussed it with their partners, spouses, or parents; needing to collect the money necessary to adopt the method; etc. For these clients, the data across consultations are linked so that the most up-to-date outcome is considered. Similarly, some clients may return to the hospital to switch or discontinue their adopted method, which are reflected in the primary outcomes if they happen within the study period. Given that approximately 90% of clients who returned to HGOPY to adopt (or remove or switch) their chosen method have done so within 100 days of their initial visit, we track outcomes for clients whose initial visit was between 9 June 2020 and 9 March 2021, who may have returned to HGOPY for a follow-up visit until 17 June 2021. In the “Mechanism and heterogeneity of impacts” section, we also examine secondary outcomes, which may help to shed light on mechanisms of intervention impacts. These include the number of methods discussed in detail, as well as the personalized rankings of the methods discussed (or adopted) per the app’s algorithm. Last, we examine outcomes related to contraceptive concordance, which were described in the previous subsection.