{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T16:08:52Z","timestamp":1791994132749,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,29]],"date-time":"2022-01-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1643414400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study aimed to determine the estimated proportion of contraindications among women taking combined oral contraceptives (COCs) and to assess the risk factors associated with their contraindications. This study was cross-sectional. Reproductive-aged women (18\u201349 years) on any COCs between 2018 and 2020 were recruited from one obstetrics\u2013gynaecology clinic in a university-affiliated hospital and were included. Contraindications were defined using the World Health Organization (WHO) Medical Eligibility Criteria (MEC) for Contraceptive Use. Data were collected from electronic medical records for all included women, as well as a standardised, pretested, structured survey for one-third of the women. In this cross-sectional study, 380 women using COCs were included. Their mean age was 31.645 \u00b1 7.366 years. Among them, 131 (34.5%) participated via a survey and electronic records, while the other 249 (65.5%) participated via electronic records only. The majority of the participants had a Bachelor\u2019s degree (59.0%) and were married (62.1%). The overall estimated proportion of patients with at least one contraindication to COCs according to category 3 (relative contraindications) or 4 (absolute contraindications) was 31.3% (95% CI 26.63\u201335.99). The most common contraindications observed were controlled hypertension, category 3 (12.1%); major surgery with prolonged immobilisation, category 4 (4.7%); migraine with aura at any age, category 4 (4.2%); breastfeeding from six weeks to less than six months postpartum, category 3 (4.0%); and diabetes mellitus with complications, category 4 (3.2%). Significant factors associated with contraindications to COCs were married women (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.38\u20133.46), those aged 35 years or more (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.49\u20133.66), and those with one or more live births (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.38\u20133.46). Ensuring proper assessment prior to prescribing and considering alternatives suitable for long-term use among women taking an oral contraceptive regularly is recommended.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph19031567","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,29]],"date-time":"2022-01-29T23:02:06Z","timestamp":1643497326000},"page":"1567","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["The Contraindications to Combined Oral Contraceptives among Reproductive-Aged Women in an Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic: A Single-Centre Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7274-5704","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ghadah A.","family":"Assiri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2454, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Douha F.","family":"Bannan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Practice Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 80260, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ghadah H.","family":"Alshehri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacy Practice Department, College of Pharmacy, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 84428, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manal","family":"Alshyhani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2454, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Walaa","family":"Almatri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2454, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2521-0464","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mansour A.","family":"Mahmoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical and Hospital Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, Tibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 42353, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"277","DOI":"10.1093\/humupd\/dmi005","article-title":"Combined oral contraceptives in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome","volume":"11","author":"Cibula","year":"2005","journal-title":"Hum. Reprod Update"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wong, C.L., Farquhar, C., Roberts, H., and Proctor, M. (2009). Oral contraceptive pill for primary dysmenorrhoea. Cochrane Database Syst. 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