These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Sexual and reproductive life events in relation to duration of oral contraceptive use.
    Author: Lidegaard O, Helm P.
    Journal: Contraception; 1988 Jul; 38(1):69-77. PubMed ID: 3168446.
    Abstract:
    In order to disclose differences between users and non-users of oral contraceptives (OC), 620 women aged 15-54 were invited to participate in an in depth interview about sexual, contraceptive, and reproductive life events. Of the 585 women who participated, 459 were consecutive gynecological in- or outpatients, and 126 were selected from visitors in general practice. Data was analysed by multivariate test statistics. After correction for present age and social class, the duration of use of OC (DOC) among women 15-34 years of age correlated negatively to age at menarche and coital debut and positively to number of sexual partners, oral-genital sexual practice, and number of pelvic inflammatory diseases. Among women over 35, DOC was positively associated only to cigarette smoking. No correlation was found to coital frequency (whether earlier, present or during pregnancy or menstruation), number of births and abortions, or to social classification. In epidemiological research on benefits and risks of oral contraceptives, confounding influence of one or more variables is of crucial importance. The present findings point at sexual and life-style habits as potential confounders in the study of OC and associated diseases. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not oral contraceptive users differ from nonusers in ways which might influence any apparent causal relationship between duration of oral contraceptive use and thromboembolism, cervical dysplasia, or breast cancer. 585 women participated in the study--459 gynecological patients and 126 patients in general practice. The average age of the women was 30.8 years, and the average duration of use of oral contraceptives was 4.3 years. Duration of oral contraceptive use was used as the operative variable because it could be quantified. The major confounding factors identified were present age, age at menarche, and number of sexual partners. After correction of age, duration of oral contraceptive use among women aged 15-34 was correlated to low age at menarche, early coital debut, many sexual partners, and frequency of oral-genital sexual practice. Among women over 35 duration of oral contraceptive use was correlated only with cigarette smoking. These correlations may influence the associations between oral contraceptives and breast cancer, cervical dysplasia, cervical cancer, and thromboembolism.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]