Contraception
Volume 75, Issue 1 , Pages 27-31, January 2007

Is there an association between the use of oral contraception and depressive symptoms in young Australian women?☆

  • Janine M. Duke

      Affiliations

    • Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia
    • ,
  • David W. Sibbritt

      Affiliations

    • Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Newcastle, NSW 2300, Australia. Tel.: +61 2 49236144; fax: +61 2 49236148.
    • ,
  • Anne F. Young

      Affiliations

    • Research Center for Gender, Health and Aging, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia

Received 28 June 2006; received in revised form 29 July 2006; accepted 2 August 2006. published online 20 September 2006.

Abstract 

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use and the experience of depressive symptoms among a representative sample of young Australian women.

Methods

The study sample comes from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Analysis was confined to women in the youngest cohort who responded to Survey 2, which was conducted in 2000 (n=9688) when they were aged between 22 and 27 years, and to Survey 3, which was conducted in 2003 (n=9081) when they were aged between 25 and 30 years.

Results

After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds of a nonuser experiencing depressive symptoms is not significantly different from that of an OCP user [odds ratio=1.05; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)=0.90–1.21]. Women who used OCP for reasons other than contraception were 1.32 (95% CI=1.07–1.62) times as likely to be depressed than women who used OCP for contraception. The percentage of women who reported experiencing depressive symptoms declined as the number of years of OCP use increased (p=.009).

Conclusions

The results of this study suggest that, after adjusting for confounders, there is no independent effect of OCP use on depressive symptoms in young Australian women.

Keywords: Oral contraception, Depression, Women's health, Longitudinal studies

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☆ We are grateful to the Australian Government's Department of Health and Aging for funding.

PII: S0010-7824(06)00316-7

doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2006.08.002

Contraception
Volume 75, Issue 1 , Pages 27-31, January 2007

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