Underutilization of Contraception in Young Females with Demyelinating Disorders

Demyelinating disorders in young females are frequently treated with immunomodulatory therapy which often have unknown risks to fetuses during pregnancy. In spite of this, there is no literature in this population about the use of contraception. Our objective was to determine the rate of use of contraception used in a real-world cohort of pediatric patients on immunotherapy for demyelinating diseases.

A retrospective, multi-center, chart-based review was performed. Inclusion criteria was female gender, use of immunotherapy for a demyelinating disorder, and age >11 years.

Fifty-six female patients were identified with an average age of 15.4 years. The most common demyelinating disorders was multiple sclerosis (n = 33, 59%). The most common treatments were rituximab (n = 18, 32%), dimethyl fumarate (n = 13, 23%), IVIg (n = 11, 20%), and fingolimod (n = 11, 20%). Overall, only 16% (n = 9) of patients used contraception at any point during their immunotherapy regimen. Hispanic patients accounted for 41% of the cohort but were uniformly not on contraceptives (p = 0. 02). Contraceptive use did not impact ARR in any disease (p = 0.45).

Contraceptive use in young females with demyelinating disorders is less than 1/3rd of the general population with particular discrepancies in persons of Hispanic/Latino descent.