Survey study, 2011
Can military women successfully use birth control pills to stop their periods in field conditions?
Only 21% of military women used birth control pills continuously during deployment to stop periods, mostly because taking a pill daily in harsh field conditions is difficult. Compliant users had fewer period problems than non-compliant users.
What they did
Researchers gave 500 military women deployed to austere settings an anonymous questionnaire about their use of birth control pills and desire to stop their periods. 390 women had experience using birth control pills.
What they found
78% had used birth control pills and 66% wanted to stop their periods. However, only 40% reported using pills during deployment, and only 21% used them continuously. 67% of women reported difficulty taking the pill every day in the field. Nearly half (45%) missed one or more pill per week. Women using pills continuously were nearly twice as likely to take them correctly as conventional users. Compliant pill users reported significantly less menstrual burden than non-compliant users. 85% of women wanted education about menstrual suppression through pills.
What it means for you
Birth control pills can reduce period problems in field settings, but the main barrier is the challenge of taking a pill daily in harsh conditions. This study was only of military women, so results may not apply to other groups. There was no comparison group.
21%
used birth control pills continuously during deployment
67%
had difficulty taking pill daily
45%
missed one or more pill per week
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual suppression for combat operations: advantages of oral contraceptive pills
- Authors
- Powell-Dunford NC, Cuda AS, Moore JL et al.
- Journal
- Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health
- Year
- 2011
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 390
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2010.08.006
Topics
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