Abstract
Background
There is a lack of information concerning the decision factors and sources of information
influencing women who purposefully deviate from the prescribed use of their combined
hormone contraceptives to exert elective control of their scheduled bleeding.
Study Design
A self-administered email survey of scheduled bleeding practices and beliefs was distributed
to 11,900 female students at the University of Oregon. Assessment of survey participant
characteristics, scheduled bleeding manipulation features and attitudes and knowledge
toward hormonal contraception was analyzed.
Results
Of 1719 respondents to the survey, 1374 (79.9%) reported using combined hormonal contraception
currently or recently. Approximately 17% of these women altered their scheduled bleeding
pattern by deviating from package instructions. Of these, 50% indicated they delayed
or skipped their scheduled bleeding for convenience or personal choice. Within this
group, 47% of women indicated they learned to modify their scheduled bleeding from
health care professionals, while 30% indicated such knowledge was obtained from family
or friends. Characteristics that decreased the likelihood of this practice included
being of Asian race, use of hormonal contraceptive for bleeding cycle regulation,
following a regular exercise program, and personal preference for a monthly cycle.
Conclusions
The majority of university females who choose to modify their scheduled bleeding cycle
with combined hormonal contraceptives do so for convenience rather than to avoid menstrual
symptoms, and many learn from nonmedical sources. There is some disparity between
the preferences of menstruation frequency and actual scheduled bleeding pattern behaviors,
suggesting potential for improvement in patient education.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 10, 2013
Accepted:
December 28,
2012
Received in revised form:
December 24,
2012
Received:
September 26,
2012
Footnotes
☆Source of Funding: NIH HL081671.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
