Oral Contraceptive Use and Bone Density in Adolescent and Young Adult Women

Overview

Journal Contraception

Publisher Elsevier

Specialty Reproductive Medicine

Date 2009 Dec 17

PMID 20004271

Citations 17

Authors

Delia Scholes

Laura Ichikawa

Andrea Z LaCroix

Leslie Spangler

Jeannette M Beasley

Susan Reed

Susan M Ott

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Most of the millions of oral contraceptive (OC) users are under 30 years of age and in the critical period for bone mass accrual.

Study Design: This cross-sectional study of 606 women aged 14-30 years examined both OC duration and estrogen dose and their association with bone mineral density (BMD) at the hip, spine, and whole body (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry).

Results: Of 389 OC users and 217 nonusers enrolled, 50% were adolescents (14-18 years). Of OC users, 38% used "low-dose" OCs [<30 mcg ethinyl estradiol (EE)]. In adolescents, mean BMD differed by neither OC duration nor EE dose. However, 19- to 30-year-old women's mean BMD was lower with longer OC use for spine and whole body (p=.004 and p=.02, respectively) and lowest for >12 months of low-dose OCs for the hip, spine and whole body (p=.02, .003 and .002, respectively).

Conclusions: Prolonged use of today's OCs, particularly <30 mcg EE, may adversely impact young adult women's bone density while using these agents.

Citing Articles

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DeMasi T, Tsang M, Mueller J, Giltvedt K, Nguyen T, Kern M Curr Dev Nutr. 2024; 8(9):104417.

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Almstedt H, Cook M, Bramble L, Dabir D, LaBrie J J Bone Miner Metab. 2020; 38(4):544-554.

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Ackerman K, Singhal V, Slattery M, Eddy K, Bouxsein M, Lee H J Bone Miner Res. 2019; 35(2):248-260.

PMID: 31603998 PMC: 7064307. DOI: 10.1002/jbmr.3887.

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