Impact of use of combined oral contraceptive pill on the quality of life of Japanese women.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of combined oral contraceptive pill (OC) use on quality of life (QOL) among Japanese women, we performed a prospective study using the Japanese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) questionnaire.


METHODS
Women who consulted Chayamachi Lady's Clinic to get a prescription for OC for the first time were recruited for our questionnaire study and asked to complete the WHOQOL questionnaire twice, before taking OC and more than 3 months after beginning OC use. Two hundred and seventeen women responded to our questionnaire before taking OC and 110 patients completed the questionnaire. The patients were divided into six groups based on the reason they wanted to take OC: contraception, relaxation of dysmenorrhea, regulation of menstrual cycles, improvement of acne, remission of menorrhagia, and improvement of premenstrual tension syndrome (PMS).


RESULTS
WHOQOL scores showed significant improvement in all domains of the dysmenorrhea group, all domains but the social of over all participants, the social and overall domain of the irregular cycle group, physical, environmental, and overall domain of the acne group, and psychological and overall domain of the PMS group. The WHOQOL score worsened in the social domain of the contraception group; however, the score in the overall domain of that group improved.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that OC can provide higher QOL for women with problems involving menstrual pain and/or hormonal abnormalities. However, those using OC for contraception only were found to be unsatisfied with taking OC in a relationship with their partners.
Matsumoto
Yasuyo
Y
International Center for Medical Research and Treatment, Kobe University School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan.
Yamabe
Shingo
S
Ideta
Kazuhisa
K
Kawabata
Masato
M
D000328:Adult; D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D003277:Contraceptives, Oral, Combined