Abstract
Background
Progestin-only oral contraceptive pills (POPs) have fewer contraindications to use
compared to combined pills. However, the overall prevalence of contraindications to
POPs among reproductive-aged women has not been assessed.
Study Design
We collected information on contraindications to POPs in two studies: (1) the Self-Screening
Study, a sample of 1267 reproductive-aged women in the general population in El Paso,
TX, and (2) the Prospective Study of OC Users, a sample of current oral contraceptive
(OC) users who obtained their pills in El Paso clinics (n=532) or over the counter (OTC) in Mexican pharmacies (n=514). In the Self-Screening Study, we also compared women's self-assessment of contraindications
using a checklist to a clinician's evaluation.
Results
Only 1.6% of women in the Self-Screening Study were identified as having at least
one contraindication to POPs. The sensitivity of the checklist for identifying women
with at least one contraindication was 75.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 50.6%–90.4%],
and the specificity was 99.4% (95% CI: 98.8%–99.7%). In total, 0.6% of women in the
Prospective Study of OC Users reported having any contraindication to POPs. There
were no significant differences between clinic and OTC users.
Conclusion
The prevalence of contraindications to POPs was very low in these samples. POPs may
be the best choice for the first OTC oral contraceptive in the United States.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 27, 2012
Accepted:
January 17,
2012
Received in revised form:
January 16,
2012
Received:
November 30,
2011
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
