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  • Title: Oral contraceptives and pregnancy in relation to peptic ulcer.
    Author: Vessey MP, Villard-Mackintosh L, Painter R.
    Journal: Contraception; 1992 Oct; 46(4):349-57. PubMed ID: 1486773.
    Abstract:
    There is evidence in the scientific literature that peptic ulceration occurs less frequently during pregnancy than at other times. This encouraged us to examine the pattern of hospitalisation for peptic ulcer in the Oxford-Family Planning Association contraceptive study. In total, 175 women in the study had been hospitalised for peptic ulcer; 105 had duodenal disease, 55 had gastric disease and 22 had disease of unspecified site (some had disease at more than one location). Hospitalisation for peptic ulcer increased with age, parity and cigarette smoking. In addition, hospitalisation was at a low rate during pregnancy and was not seen at all during the 12 months following delivery. There was no relationship between hospitalisation for peptic ulcer and total duration of oral contraceptive use. Likewise, there was no significant relationship with recency of oral contraceptive use, but the lowest rate of hospitalisation was in current users of the pill. Researchers analyzed data from the Oxford-Family Planning Association contraceptive study on 175 women hospitalized for peptic ulcer in England or Scotland to determine whether an association existed between oral contraceptive (OC) use and peptic ulcers and pregnancy and peptic ulcers. Hospitalization for peptic ulcer increased consistently with age (peptic ulcer hospitalization rate for ages 25-29 years vs. 50+ years was .3 total women years [TWY] vs. .84; p = .006). It also rose steadily with the number of cigarettes smoked/day (0.51 TWY for never smoked vs. 0.89 TWY for 15+; P = .001). It was positively associated with parity (0.6 TWY for nulliparity vs. 0.8 TWY for =or 3 children; p = .04), but parity off 1-2 appeared to have somewhat of a protective effect (0.55 TWY). Pregnant women were less likely to experience a peptic ulcer than never pregnant women (0.29 TWY vs. 0.67 TWY), but the difference was not significant. None of the once-pregnant women who had been pregnant within the last 12 months were hospitalized for peptic ulcer. Neither duration nor recency of OC use had a protective effect against peptic ulcer. Yet, current OC users did have a lower hospitalization rate for peptic ulcer than non-OC users (0.42 TWY vs. 0.68 TWY). Therefore OCs may indeed have some protective effect, but researchers must carefully design a study with a large sample size to detect any possible protective effect.
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