Association of Contraception with Medical Conditions

This statement is a response to new advice from the MHRA regarding use of cyproterone acetate and risk of meningioma.

A Danish database study suggests that children born to women who have used hormonal contraception (HC) in the three months prior to conception or in early pregnancy are at increased risk of developing childhood non-lymphoid leukaemia compared with children whose mothers have never used HC. The FSRH CEU provides a critical appraisal of the study in this statement.

Various news stories have reported the findings detailed in the AAN press release which stated that compared to women who did not use hormonal contraceptives, women who did, were 35 percent more likely to develop Multiple Sclerosis and that the findings suggested that hormonal contraception may be contributing to the rise in the rate of MS among women.

Much recent media attention has been given to the subject of a potential association between hormonal contraception and depression. The FSRH CEU monitors and reports relevant emerging evidence. A new systematic review published in Contraception examines the existing evidence relating to risk of depression associated with use of progestogen-only contraception (POC).1 The authors of the review conclude that the bulk of the evidence does not support an association between use of POC and depression based on validated measures. Meta-analysis was not possible due to the heterogeneity of studies.

This statement is a CEU response to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry titled Association of Hormonal Contraception with Depression.

FSRH's Clinical Effectiveness Unit (CEU) reviews an observational study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study reports that, in the Danish study population, women who were currently using any method of hormonal contraception* (HC) or had done so within the last 6 months were 20% more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those who had never used HC.