TDNet Discover

Background: Women today have many options when choosing a form of contraception. Many women find oral birth control pills to be a safe and effective choice but by choosing this method, they may be unknowingly increasing their risk of developing depression. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of unipolar depression is rising, even in countries where mental health therapies are advanced and widely available (Celie et al., 2017). In addition, females are more than twice as likely to be afflicted by mood disorders both in the United States and worldwide (McHenry et al., 2014). Objective: To determine if women who take progestin-only birth control versus women who take combined oral contraceptives are more likely to develop depression. Study Design: A systematic review was conducted by researching peer-reviewed literature on the following databases;PubMed, UpToDate, Cochrane Library, and Medline/EBSCO. Keywords, limits, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were utilized. The limits applied to the search included peer reviewed articles, written within the last ten years, and written in English language. The criteria applied to each specific database can be found in Appendix A. A quality assessment tool provided by The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) was utilized to eliminate more search results. A data extraction tool was utilized to perform a qualitative analysis on the remaining articles. Methods: An evidence-based systematic review was completed by analyzing articles in three databases: PubMed, Medline/EBSCO and Cochrane Library. The researchers utilized various search criteria, such as “combined contraceptives depression” and combined contraceptives and mood disorders.” Exclusion criteria included postpartum depression, premenstrual, transgender, vaginal ring, and skin patch. Limits used included: within the last ten years, systematic review, iv trials, peer reviewed. Lastly, the researchers finalized their articles using quality assessments and data extraction tools Results: Data on this topic is limited. A total of seven studies were included when conducting this systematic review comparing the effects of combined oral contraceptives versus progestinonly contraceptives on depression in women of reproductive age. The research presented the researchers with conflicting evidence as to whether there is a link between OCPs and depression. There is evidence that shows that adolescent females are most at risk of developing depression when taking OCPs. There is also evidence that progestin-only options may have a higher risk of these depressive symptom. In addition to depression, the research showed that there was a correlation between OCP use and suicide. Conclusion: There is not sufficient evidence to prove that either combined oral contraceptives or progestin-only contraceptives are more likely to cause depression.