Efficacy, acceptability and tolerability of the combined contraceptive ring, NuvaRing, compared with an oral contraceptive containing 30 microg of ethinyl estradiol and 3 mg of drospirenone.
OBJECTIVE
This randomized multicenter, open-label, trial compared efficacy, acceptability, tolerability and compliance of NuvaRing with a combined oral contraceptive (COC), containing 30 microg of ethinyl estradiol (EE) and 3 mg of drospirenone.


METHODS
In this 13-cycle study, 983 women were randomized and treated (intent-to-treat population) with NuvaRing or COC.


RESULTS
One in-treatment pregnancy occurred with NuvaRing (Pearl Index=0.25) (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.006, 1.363) and four with the COC (Pearl Index=0.99) (95% CI: 0.269, 2.530). For both groups, compliance (89.2% NuvaRing, 85.5% COC) and satisfaction (84% NuvaRing; 87% COC) were high; the vast majority of women found NuvaRing easy to insert (96%) and remove (97%). Tolerability was similar; the most frequent adverse events with NuvaRing were related to ring use, whereas estrogen-related events were more common with the COC.


CONCLUSIONS
NuvaRing has comparable efficacy and tolerability to a COC containing 30 microg of EE and 3 mg drospirenone. User acceptability of both methods was high.
Ahrendt
Hans-Joachim
HJ
Halberstädter Strasse 122, D-39112 Magdeburg, Germany. h.-j.ahrendt@t-online.de
Nisand
Israel
I
Bastianelli
Carlo
C
Gómez
Maria Angeles
MA
Gemzell-Danielsson
Kristina
K
Urdl
Wolfgang
W
Karskov
Birgit
B
Oeyen
Luc
L
Bitzer
Johannes
J
Page
Geert
G
Milsom
Ian
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000736:Androstenes / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D003267:Contraception; D003270:Contraceptive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D017135:Desogestrel / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007434:Intrauterine Devices / Q000009:adverse effects; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D045167:Progesterone Congeners / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000736:Androstenes; D003270:Contraceptive Agents; D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined; D004338:Drug Combinations; C516519:NuvaRing; D045167:Progesterone Congeners; D004997:Ethinyl Estradiol; D017135:Desogestrel; C035144:drospirenone