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Contraception and unexplained abdominal pain.

Martin Vessey¹, Rosemary Painter

¹Unit of Health Care Epidemiology, Oxford University Department of Public Health, Institute of Health Sciences, Headington, Oxford, UK. martin.vessey@dphpc.ox.ac.uk

The Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care

|November 2, 2005

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Hospital referral for unexplained abdominal pain was slightly reduced in current oral contraceptive (OC) users. Past intrauterine device (IUD) users and heavy smokers showed increased referral rates for abdominal pain.

Area of Science:

Reproductive Health
Gastroenterology
Public Health

Background:

Unexplained abdominal pain is a common reason for hospital referral.
Contraceptive methods like oral contraceptives (OCs) and intrauterine devices (IUDs) may influence health outcomes.
Smoking is a known risk factor for various health conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the association between oral contraceptive (OC) and intrauterine device (IUD) use and hospital referral for unexplained abdominal pain.
To assess the impact of smoking on hospital referral for unexplained abdominal pain.

Main Methods:

Prospective cohort study involving 17,032 women from the Oxford-Family Planning Association (FPA) contraceptive study.
Analysis of hospital referral data for unexplained abdominal pain (ICD rubric 785.5).

Related Experiment Videos

Comparison of referral rates among current/recent OC users, IUD users, past users, and non-users, as well as smokers and non-smokers.

Main Results:

A statistically significant 13% decrease in hospital referral for unexplained abdominal pain was observed in current or recent oral contraceptive (OC) users compared to non-users.
No significant difference in referral rates was found for current intrauterine device (IUD) users.
Past IUD users showed an increased risk of referral, with rates rising with time since discontinuation.
Heavy smokers (≥15 cigarettes/day) had a 29% higher risk of referral for unexplained abdominal pain compared to non-smokers.

Conclusions:

Current or recent oral contraceptive (OC) use may be associated with a slight reduction in hospital referrals for unexplained abdominal pain.
Past intrauterine device (IUD) use, particularly with older IUD models no longer in common use, is linked to a moderate increase in referral risk.
Heavy cigarette smoking significantly increases the risk of hospital referral for unexplained abdominal pain.