Race, insurance status, and desire for tubal sterilization reversal

Objective: To examine the independent effects of race/ethnicity and insurance status on desire for tubal sterilization reversal. Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected by the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Setting: Interviews were conducted in person by a trained female interviewer in the participant's home. Patient(s): The NSFG is designed to represent women and men 15-44 years of age in the U.S. household population. The sample consisted of 934 women who had undergone tubal sterilization at any time before being interviewed. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Desire for sterilization reversal. Result(s): Among women older than 30 years at time of surgery, black women were significantly more likely to desire sterilization reversal compared with white women (adjusted odds ratio, 2.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.2, 5.8). In the total cohort and in the subset of women 30 years or younger, there were no significant racial/ethnic variations in desire for sterilization reversal. Conclusion(s): Among women over age 30 at the time of tubal sterilization, black women were much more likely to express desire for reversal than white women.