Female Contraception
Conditions
Brief summary
The investigators aim is to evaluate effects of combined oral contraceptives (OC) on mood, sexuality and economic behaviour in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. 400 healthy women will be randomized to OC or placebo for a period of three months. Before and at the end of treatment, mood and sexuality will be assessed by validated instruments. At the end of treatment, each woman will participate in behavioral experiments testing self-confidence, risk taking and altruism. The current project could fill the gap of ignorance about causal effects of OCs on mood, sexuality and behavior. The results might improve current practice as regards information about OCs, choice of hormonal contraceptive, regimen and duration of use. As a consequence, this could lead to reduced discontinuation rate, fewer unintended pregnancies and abortions. The project will contribute to an overall improvement in women's reproductive health.
Interventions
DRUGOral contraceptive
Neovletta
Sponsors
Karolinska Institutet
Karolinska University Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Healthy young women, aged 18-35 years, BMI 19-30
Exclusion criteria
* Risk factors for thrombosis, smoking, obesity, hypertension, diabetes and estrogen/gestagen therapy the last three months
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| economic behaviour | 11 weeks | A modified dictator game will be used to measure altruistic behavior (Eckel and Grossman 1996). Each subject decides how to allocate money between herself and a charitable organisation. The size of the donation is our measure of altruism. Risk aversion is measured by a test where the subject makes several choices between a certain payoff and a 50/50 gamble to win a certain amount of money (Dohmen et al 2005). Competitiveness is defined as the extent to which women choose to compete in a task which involves solving as many simple mathematical exercises as possible during three minutes (Niederle and Vesterlund 2007). |
| sexual behaviour | baseline to 11 weeks | Sexual function will be assessed by the validated instruments Sexual Activity Log (SAL) (Derogatis et al 2004), Profile of Female Sexual Function (PFSF) (McHorney et al 2004, Derogatis et al 2004) and Personal Distress Scale (PDS, past 30 days) (Derogatis et al 2004, Leiblum et al 2006). The women are answering the questionnaires, which are all computerized, at the Women´s Health Research Unit. |
| mood | baseline to 11 weeks | Mood and health-related quality of life will be assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) test (Lightfoot and Oliver 1985) and the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWB) (Dupuy 1984, Wiklund et al 1992). |
Countries
Sweden
Contacts
Primary ContactAngelica L Hirschberg, Professor
Outcome results
None listed