BACKGROUND Irregular bleeding is one of the most common side effects of hormonal contraception and a key reason for the discontinuation of hormonal methods. STUDY DESIGN A qualitative study in which 12 young women volunteered to be interviewed in depth, along with six focus group discussions (23 participants). The study had two main research objectives: to document and investigate what young ...

Publication of the article by Skovlund et al. ‘Association of hormonal contraception with depression’ [1] has produced a strong media reaction in several countries, with recent headlines like those in the German magazines Gala ‘Finally proven: the Pill causes depression’ and Brigitte ‘Danish scientists show the Pill increases the risk of depression in young women by 80%’. Although the article’s...

BACKGROUND Use of a reliable contraception method has become an inclusion criterion in prevention trials to minimize time off product. We report on hormonal contraceptive prevalence, uptake, sustained use and correlates of use in the Microbicides Development Programme (MDP 301) trial at the Masaka Centre in Uganda. METHODS HIV negative women in sero-discordant relationships were enrolled and ...

OBJECTIVE To summarize published evidence on drug interactions between hormonal contraceptives and antiretrovirals. DESIGN Systematic review of the published literature. METHODS We searched PubMed, POPLINE, and EMBASE for peer-reviewed publications of studies (in any language) from inception to 21 September 2015. We included studies of women using hormonal contraceptives and antiretrovirals...

OBJECTIVES The relation between the use of different hormonal contraceptives and antidepressant therapy was investigated. METHODS In a nationwide cross-sectional study among all women in Sweden aged 16-31, drug expenditure data on hormonal contraceptives and antidepressants were obtained from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Odds ratios (ORs) for antidepressant use were calculated by log...

Male contraception by means of hormonal approach was initiated more than 60 years ago when men became azoospermic with administration of testosterone. The basic principle of male hormonal contraception is suppression of spermatogenesis. Exogenous testosterone/testosterone analogs alone or in combination with progestin have been tested for contraceptive efficacy by inhibiting gonadotropins relea...

BACKGROUND Data on the effect of contraceptive methods, other than the condom, on HIV acquisition is not clear. The aim of this study was to describe hormonal contraceptive use, sexual behaviour and HIV prevalence among women in Cameroon in order to provide baseline information for future analytical studies. METHODS This is a cross-sectional descriptive study based a nationally representative...

BACKGROUND Preventing unintended pregnancy in HIV-positive women can significantly reduce maternal-to-child HIV transmission as well as improve the woman's overall health. Hormonal contraceptives are safe and effective means to avoid unintended pregnancy, but there is concern that coadministration of antiretroviral drugs may alter contraceptive efficacy. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed a l...