American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Volume 201, Issue 3 , Pages 263.e1-263.e9, September 2009

Oral contraceptive effectiveness according to body mass index, weight, age, and other factors

Presented as a poster at the 55th Annual Clinical Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, San Diego, CA, May 5-9, 2007.

  • Jürgen C. Dinger, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • ZEG–Center for Epidemiology and Health Research, Berlin, Germany
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprints: Jürgen C. Dinger, MD, PhD, ZEG–Centre for Epidemiology and Health Research, Invalidenstrasse 115, 10115 Berlin, Germany
    • ,
  • Maureen Cronin, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany
    • ,
  • Sabine Möhner, PhD

      Affiliations

    • ZEG–Center for Epidemiology and Health Research, Berlin, Germany
    • ,
  • Ilka Schellschmidt, MD

      Affiliations

    • Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany
    • ,
  • Thai Do Minh, PhD

      Affiliations

    • ZEG–Center for Epidemiology and Health Research, Berlin, Germany
    • ,
  • Carolyn Westhoff, MD, MSc

      Affiliations

    • Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY

Received 20 October 2008; received in revised form 26 January 2009; accepted 6 March 2009. published online 01 June 2009.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to assess the use-effectiveness of oral contraceptives (OCs) in Europe according to body mass index (BMI), weight, age, and other factors.

Study Design

In a planned secondary analysis, we used data from the European Active Surveillance Study on Oral Contraceptives, which was a prospective active cohort surveillance study of 59,510 OC users, to assess the effectiveness of OCs overall and by BMI, weight, age, duration of use, ethinylestradiol dose, regimen type, starting/switching status, and parity. Self-reported unplanned pregnancies during OC use were confirmed by interview.

Results

An analysis of OC effectiveness (112,659 women-years of exposure and 545 unplanned pregnancies) found little variation in effectiveness by BMI/weight. Failure rates decreased after 30 years of age and with an increasing duration of use.

Conclusion

OC users in Europe reported high contraceptive effectiveness with “typical use.” Failure rates decreased with age and duration of use. BMI and weight had little, if any, influence on effectiveness.

Key words: body mass index, contraceptive effectiveness, oral contraceptives, weight

 

 Cite this article as: Dinger JC, Cronin M, Möhner S, et al. Oral contraceptive effectiveness according to body mass index, weight, age, and other factors. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009;201:263.e1-9.

 Financial support was provided by Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Berlin, Germany.

PII: S0002-9378(09)00272-5

doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2009.03.017

Refers to article:

  • Journal ClubCross-reference Factors influencing oral contraceptive effectiveness: Dinger et al

    Tessa Madden, Jenifer E. Allsworth, Melissa Tepe, Katherine Goetzinger, Dan Czarnecki, Jaclyn Grentzer
    American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology September 2009 (Vol. 201, Issue 3, Pages 330-331)

American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Volume 201, Issue 3 , Pages 263.e1-263.e9, September 2009