Oral Contraceptive Users Have Lower Prevalence of Depression

TUESDAY, Dec. 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Women using the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) have reduced prevalence of major depression, according to a study scheduled to be published in the Jan. 1, 2024, issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders.

Julia Gawronska, Ph.D., from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, and colleagues used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005 to 2012 data to examine the prevalence and correlates of depression in women using OCP. The analysis included 6,239 women aged 18 to 55 years.

The researchers found that compared with former and never users of OCP, current OCP users had lower prevalence of major depression (4.6 percent versus 11.4 and 10.0 percent, respectively). After adjustment for potential confounders, current OCP users were significantly less likely to report major depression than former OCP users (odd ratio, 0.59). In women who were Black or Hispanic, women who were widowed/divorced/separated, those with a low or middle income, current smokers, current users of antidepressants, and those with history of cancer or thyroid problems, the prevalence of major depression was higher.

"In this large sample of U.S. women, we found that women using OCP are less likely to experience clinically relevant major depression compared to women who previously used OCP," the authors write.

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