Comparing female-based contraceptive methods in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and a healthy population.
AIM
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease that is 10 times more prevalent in women, particularly those of reproductive age. The varying effects of pregnancy on SLE and the differences between available SLE treatments make pregnancy timing and contraceptive methods significant. We aimed to determine the contraceptive methods used by SLE patients in the north-west part of Turkey, and compared them with those used by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and healthy controls.


METHOD
The study was comprised of 113 SLE patients, and 84 RA patients at the Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic of Uludag University Medical Faculty.


RESULTS
Twenty-three (20.3%) out of 113 SLE patients, 18 (21.4%) out of 84 RA patients and 17 (18.6%) out of 92 healthy controls did not use any contraceptive methods. Use of the withdrawal and condom methods was more common among SLE patients, accounting for 61% (withdrawal 32.7%, condom 28.3%). Moreover, 52% of SLE and 50% of RA patients were neither given information about contraceptive methods nor offered a suggested method, compared to 34% in the health control group.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of oral contraceptive use is low in Turkey; notwithstanding the withdrawal and condom methods, which are frequently used despite their high failure risk. Although pregnancy timing is of great importance for SLE patients, necessary information and recommendations concerning contraceptive methods have been ignored and the use of effective methods is not a priority.
['Dalkilic|Ediz|E|', 'Tufan|Ayse Nur|AN|', 'Oksuz|Mustafa Ferhat|MF|', 'Sahbazlar|Mustafa|M|', 'Coskun|Belkis Nihan|BN|', 'Seniz|Nihan|N|', 'Pehlivan|Yavuz|Y|', 'Inanc|Murat|M|']
D000328:Adult D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid D016022:Case-Control Studies D003076:Coitus Interruptus D003267:Contraception D003276:Contraceptives, Oral D005260:Female D005298:Fertility D015438:Health Behavior D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice D006801:Humans D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic D008875:Middle Aged D010353:Patient Education as Topic D011247:Pregnancy D011248:Pregnancy Complications D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned D012307:Risk Factors D014421:Turkey
contraception systemic lupus erythematosus rheumatoid arthritis