Reasons for hormonal contraceptive use in a cohort of African-American women living in the Detroit area.

OBJECTIVES

To characterize reasons for hormonal contraceptive (HC) use in 1,455 African-American women, aged 23-35 years.

STUDY DESIGN

The community-based cohort members were recruited from the Detroit, Michigan area in 2010-2012. HC history was collected via telephone interview.

RESULTS

Seven percent reported HC use exclusively for non-contraceptive purposes, and 49% reported non-contraceptive reasons in addition to contraception. Non-contraceptive reasons were reported for all HC types, but were most common for combined oral contraceptives. Primary reasons were for irregular cycles, heavy bleeding, and pain.

CONCLUSIONS

In this large cohort of Black women, HC use to treat menstrual problems was common.

IMPLICATIONS

HCs were commonly used for both pregnancy prevention and management of menstrual symptoms, but some women used HCs exclusively for menstrual symptom relief. The importance for women of non-contraceptive reasons for HC use may not be adequately recognized, and published data on Black women's reasons for HC use remain limited.