Assessing the impact of hormonal contraceptive use on menstrual health among women of reproductive age - a systematic review

Shayesteh Jahanfar, Julie Mortazavi, Amy Lapidow, Cassandra Cu, Jude Al Abosy, Hartman Ciana, Katherine J. Morris, Katherine Morris, Meredith Steinfeldt, Olivia Maurer, Jiang Bohang, Rajkumari Anjali Oberoi, Moazzam Ali
The European journal of contraception & reproductive health care : the official journal of the European Society of Contraception · 2024 · vol. 29(5) , pp. 193–223 · doi:10.1080/13625187.2024.2373143 · PMID:39007750 · W4400651488
review OA: hybrid CC0 ⤵ 2 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This systematic review found that hormonal contraceptives are effective in treating menstrual bleeding issues and associated conditions like endometriosis, fibroids, and PMDD, improving quality of life.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Contraceptive methods are well-established in their ability to prevent pregnancy and increase individual agency in childbearing. Evidence suggests that contraceptives can also be used to treat adverse conditions associated with menstruation, including abnormal and prolonged uterine bleeding, heavy menstrual bleeding, painful menstruation, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and premenstrual dysphoric disorders.This review investigates the effects of contraceptive techniques such as contraceptive pills, and long-acting reversible contraceptives (e.g. intrauterine devices, implants) on menstrual morbidity. METHODS: Over ten databases with no geographical boundaries were searched from inception until October 2023. Study designs were one of the following types to be included: parallel or cluster randomised controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, controlled before and after studies, interrupted time series studies, cohort or longitudinal analyses, regression discontinuity designs, and case-control studies. Ten team members screened the papers in pairs with a Kappa score of more than 7, and Covidence was used. Conflicts were resolved by discussion, and the full papers were divided among the reviewers to extract the data from eligible studies. RESULTS: Hormonal contraceptives are considered a well-tolerated, non-invasive, and clinically effective treatment for abnormal and prolonged uterine bleeding, heavy menstrual bleeding, painful menstruation, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and premenstrual dysphoric disorders. Our studies investigating quality of life or well-being in women with heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, or uterine fibroids have found improvements in all dimensions assessed. CONCLUSIONS: Hormonal contraceptives significantly reduce pain, symptom severity, and abnormal bleeding patterns associated with women who suffer from heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal Contraceptive Agents, Hormonal

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References (55)

Cited by (2)

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europepmc
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License: CC0 · commercial use OK