Study: NuvaRing offers same reliability as the pill, better cycle control, and only half the dose
Study: NuvaRing offers same reliability as the pill, better cycle control, and only half the dose
OSS, THE NETHERLANDS, March 15, 2005 -- NuvaRing, Organon's
once-a-month vaginal ring contraceptive, is as reliable as the
combined pill, according to results of the first head-to-head study
published this month in the medical journal Contraception.
Earlier results from the same study show that NuvaRing -- which
releases only 15 mcg of estrogen and 150 mcg etonogestrel a day --
offers significantly better cycle control than the combined
pill.
Research shows that women's main considerations in relation to contraception are reliability and ease-of-use: women want to be able to trust their method as much as possible, and trust that it works in their hands, commented study investigator, Dr Oddsson, gynecologist, Reykjavik, Iceland. These new results confirm that NuvaRing is just as trustworthy as the pill but without the need for daily pill-intake.
He added: It is more than likely that in real-life NuvaRing is actually more reliable than the pill, because missed pills contribute to a significant number of contraceptive failures among pill users outside the clinical trial setting.
Furthermore, NuvaRing's contraceptive protection is not compromised by vomiting or the use of commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotics other possible causes of contraceptive failure among pill users.
The one-year randomized controlled trial involving over 1000 women in 11 countries compared NuvaRing with a combined pill containing 30 mcg ethinyl estrogen (EE) and 150 mcg levonorgestrel. Five in-treatment pregnancies occurred in each treatment group giving Pearl Indices of 1.2 for both methods.
Both methods were well tolerated and the incidence of side effects was low. Notably, more NuvaRing users experienced a clinically significant decrease in body weight than pill users. Increased body weight was also more commonly reported as a reason for discontinuation for pill users compared with NuvaRing users. Overall equal number of subjects discontinued in both treatment groups, most commonly because of adverse events. Discontinuations in the NuvaRing group were higher in the first months of the study but fell thereafter. The discontinuation rate associated with the pill was uniform throughout the study.
Previous research show that NuvaRing is regarded as a highly convenient contraceptive method with a high level of user and partner acceptability 81 % of women who use it prefer it to their previous method of contraception including the pill.
Source: Organon
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