In its annual report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) said that a record 5 million people visited federally funded reproductive health clinics in 2004. This figure is up 1 percent over 2003.

According to the report, there were 4,568 federally funded family planning clinics in 2004 with total revenues of $982 million. Most clinic funding -- about 63 percent -- came from the federal government, chiefly Title X and Medicaid. About 68 percent of clinic patients had incomes at or below the poverty level. Twenty-nine percent were teenagers, while about half were in their 20s. The clinics conducted 5.4 million STD tests and 530,569 HIV tests.

Women comprised about 4.8 million clinics patients, while 244,381 patients were males. The fact that a third of new clients were male is seen as an indicator that outreach efforts are paying off. The increased number of male visitors is "certainly a good sign," said Lawrence Finer, AGI associate director for domestic research.

Most female patients -- 48 percent -- used oral contraceptives, but this figure was down from 62 percent in 1995. In 1995, 12 percent of women reported using injectable contraceptives and 13 percent used condoms. Both these methods were used by 18 percent of women in 2004. Other forms of birth control -- including the Ortho Evra patch, the Nuva vaginal ring, and abstinence from sex -- were chosen by 8 percent of women in 2004.

Contraceptives with "0" percent usage in 2004 included hormonal implants, cervical caps, diaphragms, and spermicidal products, according to the AGI report.

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