A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Levonorgestrel Vs. The Yuzpe Regimen as Emergency Contraception Method among Iranian Women

BACKGROUND We aimed to compare acceptability of Levonorgestrel with the Yuzpe regimen among Iranian women based on their side-effects and resulting changes in the amount and pattern of menses. METHODS Five hundred twenty nine participants aged 15-49 having regular menses and one act of unprotected intercourse within 72 h were included in the double-blind, controlled trial in 2006-2007 and randomly assigned into LNG (n=263) and HD (n=266) groups, receiving Levonorgestrel 0.75 mg given 12 h apart and ethinyl estradiol 100 μg plus 0.5 mg Levonorgestrel 0.5 mg repeated after 12 h, respectively. RESULTS The participants receiving Levonorgestrel experienced significantly lower side-effects in the case of nausea, vomiting, and dizziness (P<0.05). The changes occurred in the amount and pattern of menses were the same for both groups (P>0.05). No significant difference was observed between the efficiencies of the treatments. CONCLUSION Significantly lower side-effects of Levonorgestrel can be considered as greater acceptability and translated to higher efficiency.