As per a recent study published in “International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance”, a higher number of athletes reported use of hormonal contraceptives. Athletes who implanted progestin-only contraceptives reported more menstrual cycle associated side effects.

The contraceptives are made to decrease cyclical variability, produce a 28-day menstruation cycle and also prevent pregnancy. Daniel Martin and colleagues conducted a study to assess hormonal contraceptive (HC) period prevalence and related side effects of menstruation and pregnancy.

A total of 430 elite women athletes were involved in the analysis and completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire was about induction and discontinuation of HCs, HC use period prevalence, and side effects observed by non-HC and HC group patients. After the questionnaire session, the group comparison, relationship between categorical variables and descriptive statistics were determined.

A total of 69.8% of athletes used HCs somewhere, and 49.5% were still using. About 68.1% of women used combined oral contraceptives and 30.0% used progestin-only contraceptives. Out of 30.0%, 2.8% people obtained progestin-only contraceptives through the intrauterine system, 3.7% through injections and 13.1% implanted the medicine. From Progestin-only group, 39.1% patients exhibited side effects as compared to combined 17.8% of combined HCs group (p = 0.001). The people who implanted progestin-only medication showed more side effects as compared to other approaches (p = 0.004).

Further, recognizable positive side effects associated with menstruation time prediction/ manipulation, amount and frequency were noticed among athletes who used HC. On the other hand, from the non-HC group, 77.4% of patients exhibited menstruation-related negative side effects. The side effects were high during the first two days of menses. The women of non-HC also exhibited 29 (5) days length of menses. As per results, half of the athletes who used HC and progestin-only contraceptive appeared to have more side effects. The women who used contraceptive implants exhibited more complications as compared to others.