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Integrated summary of Ortho Evra/Evra contraceptive patch adhesion in varied climates and conditions
Howard A Zacur1, Bernard Hedon, Diana Mansour
1Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Objective:
To assess the adhesive reliability of the contraceptive patch (Ortho Evra/Evra).
Design:
Pooled data of 3,319 women from three contraceptive studies of up to 13 treatment cycles; a subset of 325 women of the pooled data from warm and humid climates; and 30 women from a three-period, crossover exercise study.
Setting:
184 centers.
Patient(S):
3,349 healthy women.
Intervention(S):
In the contraceptive studies, each treatment cycle consisted of three consecutive 7-day patches (21 days) followed by one patch-free week. During each treatment period in the exercise study, women wore the patch for 7 days and participated in one of six activities (normal activity, excluding bathing; sauna; whirlpool; treadmill; cool-water immersion; or a combination of activities) each day at a supervised health center.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Patch adhesion.
Result(S):
In the contraceptive studies, 4.7% of patches were replaced because they fell off (1.8% [1,297 of 70,552 patches]) or became partly detached (2.9% [2,050 of 70,552 patches]); patch replacement rates in centers from a warm, humid climate were 1.7% (85 of 4,877 patches) and 2.6% (128 of 4,877 patches), respectively. Only one of 87 patches (1.1%) completely detached in the exercise study.
Conclusion(S):
The reliability of adhesion of the contraceptive patch is excellent and consistent across all studies; only 1.8% and 2.9% of patches required replacement due to complete or partial detachment, respectively. Heat, humidity, and exercise do not affect adhesion.