Latin American experience with two low–dose oral contraceptives containing 30 μg ethinylestradiol/75 μg gestodene and 20 μg ethinylestradiol/150 μg desogestrel

Hormonal Contraception and Physiology: A Research‐based Theory of Discontinuation Due to Side Effects

“…In Thailand, a clinical study of 20 mcg EE/150 mcg desogestrel used for 12 months among 146 women reported no conceptions, few side effects, and very low rates of irregular bleeding (Jaisamrarn et al 2001). In Latin America, clinical trials of 20 mcg EE paired with 100 mcg levonorgestrel (Sartoretto and Ortega-Recio 1974), 150 mcg desogestrel (Bassol et al 2000), or 75 mcg gestodene (Bassol et al 2003) all reported high contraceptive efficacy, good cycle control, and few if any adverse effects. Bassol et al (2003:371) concluded, "the 20 mcg EE oral contraceptive could be administered in the first line to Latin American women.…”

“…In the late 1980s and early 1990s, studies of salivary progesterone in samples from agricultural populations in several countries-Bolivia (Vitzthum et al 1994 and2000), Nepal (Panter-Brick et al 1993), Poland (Jasienska and Ellison 1993), and Zaire )-suggested that levels of this steroid are far lower than those typically seen among women from Boston (Lipson and Ellison 1992). In fact, the average progesterone level in some of the agricultural populations was so low that many of the women would have been considered infecund had they been observed in a clinical setting in the United States.…”

Oral contraceptive pill for primary dysmenorrhoea

“…(Davis 2005). Two of the studies reported some pain outcomes for a subgroup of women who had dysmenorrhoea but pain improvement and pain scores were not reported and therefore no data could be usefully extracted (Bassol 2000, Hendrix 2002).…”

“…Of the ten included studies, six compared combined oral contraceptives with placebo as treatment for primary dysmenorrhoea (GPRG 1968;Nakano 1971;Buttram 1969a;Cullberg 1972;Hendrix 2002;Davis 2005), two compared combined oral contraceptives with di erent types of progestogens (Serfaty 1998;Endrikat 1999) and two compared combined oral contraceptives with di erent doses of estrogen. (Bassol 2000;Winkler 2003) One study also had a sequential arm combined OCP (Buttram 1969a). See table of included studies for more detail No studies were identified comparing OCP and NSAIDs.…”

“…Treatment length varied among the included trials; GPRG 1968 had an intervention period of two months; Cullberg 1972 also had a treatment length of two months but then included a month of posttreatment follow up; Buttram 1969a had a three month treatment period; Nakano 1971 had intervention periods of between 3 to 6 months; Hendrix 2002 had a four month treatment length; Davis 2005 treated the women for three months; Winkler 2003 and Serfaty 1998 had a treatment length of 6 months; Bassol 2000 and Endrikat 1999 had an intervention periods of 12 months.one had two months of treatment followed by a month of follow up (Cullberg 1972), Follow up for the remaining studies: three were of a three month duration (Buttram 1969a;GPRG 1968;Davis 2005), one was of four month duration (Hendrix 2002), one had six months of treatment with no follow up (Serfaty 1998) and one was followed by five months of follow up (Winkler 2003), and two had a treatment length of twelve cycles (Bassol 2000;Serfaty 1998). Three other trials did not report any follow up period (Davis 2005;Endrikat 1999;Serfaty 1998).…”