Health-related quality of life in young women starting hormonal contraception: a pilot study

Abstract

Objectives: Our purpose was to study whether there is a difference in self-rated health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and changes in HRQOL perception after 3 months of hormonal contraceptive use in adolescents. Seasonal variations in symptoms of depression were also studied.

Methods: A test group (T1) (n = 193) and a selected control group (n = 238) of women aged 14–20 years who were visiting a young person’s clinic completed the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) and answered additional questions on menstrual history and pattern, need for menstrual pain relief medication, and other regular medication. The test group was reassessed after 3 months of hormonal contraception (T2). Seasonal variations in reported SF-36 scores were studied for the whole group.

Results: The selected control group and test group at T1 were similar with regard to age at menarche and menstrual pattern. The duration of bleeding and use of painkillers were significantly reduced and the impact on everyday life was significantly improved after 3 months of hormonal contraception (p = .000, two-tailed). No changes in HRQOL or symptoms of possible depression were found after 3 months of hormonal contraception. The highest prevalence odds ratio for possible depression (SF-36 mental health scale score ≤48), adjusted for group, season and age, for spring vs winter, was 2.15 (95% confidence interval 0.95, 4.85).

Conclusions: After 3 months of hormonal contraception both the number of days of menstrual bleeding and the use of medication to relieve menstrual pain were reduced, but there were no significant changes in self-rated HRQOL perception. Seasonal effects on HRQOL were reported.

摘要

目的：我们的目的是研究青少年自我评定的健康相关生活质量（HRQOL）量表有无差异, 以及服用3个月激素避孕药后HRQOL量表有无变化, 还研究了抑郁症状的季节性变化。

方法：实验组（T1）（n = 193）和选定的对照组（n = 238）, 在一家青年诊所就诊的年龄14-20岁的年轻女性完成36项简要格式的健康调查（SF-36）, 并且回答了月经史和月经模式, 需要药物缓解痛经以及其他的规律服药情况。实验组服用3个月激素避孕药后（T2）重新评估。研究了整组SF-36评分的季节变化。

结果：选定的对照组和实验组T1关于初潮年龄和月经模式是相似的。服用3个月激素避孕药后月经出血时间和止痛药的应用明显减少, 并且明显提高每天的生活质量（p = 0.000, 双侧检验）。服用3个月激素避孕药后HRQOL和可能的抑郁症状没有改变。校正组、季节和年龄, 校正春天vs.冬天后, 可能的抑郁症（SF-36心理健康量表得分≤48）最高患病率比值比为2.15（95％可信区间0.95, 4.85）。

结论：服用3个月激素避孕药后月经出血时间和缓解痛经药物的应用减少, 但自我评定的HRQOL没有明显改变, 报告了季节对HRQOL的影响。

Keywords:

• Adolescence
• contraception
• depression
• mental health
• quality of life
• SF-36

Acknowledgements

We thank PhD Lars Berglund, at Uppsala Clinical Research Center, for his skilful help.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Familjeplaneringsfonden, Uppsala.