BMJ 2000;321:477-479 ( 19 August )

Papers

Effect of 1995 pill scare on rates of venous thromboembolism among women taking combined oral contraceptives: analysis of General Practice Research Database

R D T Farmer, professor,  T J Williams, research fellow,  E L Simpson, research officer,  A L Nightingale, research officer. 

Pharmacoepidemiology and Public Health, Postgraduate Medical School, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7DJ

Correspondence to: R D T Farmer r.farmer{at}surrey.ac.uk

Objective: To compare the incidence of venous thromboembolism among women taking combined oral contraceptives before and after the October 1995 pill scare.
Design: Analysis of General Practice Research Database.
Setting: United Kingdom, January 1993 to December 1998.
Subjects: Women aged 15-49 taking combined oral contraceptives.
Main outcome measures: Incidence of venous thromboembolism.
Results: Use of so called "third generation" combined oral contraceptives fell from 53% during January 1993 to October 1995 to 14% during November 1995 to December 1998. There was no significant change in the incidence of venous thromboembolism between the two periods after age was adjusted for (incidence ratio 1.04, 95% confidence interval 0.78 to 1.39).
Conclusions: The findings are not compatible with the assertion that third generation oral contraceptives are associated with a twofold increase in risk of venous thromboembolism compared with older progestogens.

---

© BMJ 2000
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Venous thromboembolism rates have not fallen since "pill scare"
BMJ 2000 321: 0. [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wilks, J. F (2003). Hormonal Birth Control and Pregnancy: A Comparative Analysis of Thromboembolic Risk. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 37: 912-916 [Full text]  
• Girolami, A., Spiezia, L., Vianello, F., Girolami, B., Fabris, F. (2003). Changes in Prescription Patterns of Oral Contraceptives in a Northern Italian Province: Relation With Venous Thromboembolism. CLIN APPL THROMB HEMOST 9: 125-130 [Abstract]  
• Girolami, A., Spiezia, L., Vianello, F. (2003). Proposal of a Flow Chart for Thrombosis-Free Oral Contraceptive Therapy. CLIN APPL THROMB HEMOST 9: 33-37 [Abstract]  
• Girolami, A., Spiezia, L., Girolami, B., Vianello, F. (2002). Tentative Guidelines and Practical Suggestions to Avoid Venous Thromboembolism During Oral Contraceptive Therapy. CLIN APPL THROMB HEMOST 8: 97-102 [Abstract]  
• Girolami, A., Spiezia, L., Rossi, F., Zanon, E. (2002). Oral Contraceptives and Venous Thromboembolism: Which Are the Safest Preparations Available?. CLIN APPL THROMB HEMOST 8: 157-162 [Abstract]  
• Rosendaal, F.R., Helmerhorst, F.M., Vandenbroucke, J.P. (2002). Female Hormones and Thrombosis. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 22: 201-210 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Egermayer, P. (2001). The "Economy Class Syndrome" : Problems With the Assessment of Risk Factors for Venous Thromboembolism. Chest 120: 1047-1048 [Full text]  
• Kaye, J. A, Vasilakis-Scaramozza, C., Jick, S. S, Jick, H. (2000). Pitfalls of pharmacoepidemiology. BMJ 321: 1528-1528 [Full text]  
• Farmer, R., Williams, T., Nightingale, A. (2000). Pitfalls of pharmacoepidemiology. BMJ 321: 1352-1352 [Full text]  
• Skegg, D. C G (2000). Pitfalls of pharmacoepidemiology. BMJ 321: 1171-1172 [Full text]  
• Jick, H., Kaye, J. A, Vasilakis-Scaramozza, C., Jick, S. S (2000). Risk of venous thromboembolism among users of third generation oral contraceptives compared with users of oral contraceptives with levonorgestrel before and after 1995: cohort and case-control analysis. BMJ 321: 1190-1195 [Abstract] [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Further analysis would be interesting

Frank Buntinx
bmj.com, 25 Aug 2000 [Full text]

Re: Further analysis would be interesting

John P Heptonstall
bmj.com, 28 Aug 2000 [Full text]

Backsliding into Correlations

Alexander M Walker
bmj.com, 6 Sep 2000 [Full text]

Author's reponse

Richard Farmer
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2000 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more on doc2doc >>