Hormonal contraception and pelvic floor function: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Hormonal contraceptive use is common practice worldwide. Although the effects of hormone treatments in the pelvic region are well established, there is no clear evidence regarding their effects on incontinence, bladder, bowel, vaginal and sexual symptoms in premenopausal women. We hypothesized that hormonal contraceptives affect pelvic floor function. We therefore performed a comprehensive systematic review of published studies to determine the influence of hormonal contraception on pelvic floor functions. METHODS: Electronic literature databases were searched from database inception to March 2015. Keywords and medical subject headings searched for included terms and word variations for 'contraception', and 'bowel', 'vaginal', 'sexual' and 'urinary' symptoms. Studies were eligible if they looked at these symptoms in women taking hormonal contraception. Two reviewers independently screened studies for inclusion, and extracted data on study characteristics, quality and results. Data were combined where possible. RESULTS: Of the 429 citations identified, 13 studies were included in the review. Data were meta-analysed where possible and presented as prevalence. The results indicate statistically significant links between interstitial cystitis and oral contraceptive use at any point (ever) (OR 2.31, 95 % CI 1.03 - 5.16; p = 0.04) and vulvar vestibulitis and current oral contraceptive use (OR 2.10, 95 % CI 1.26 - 3.49; p = 0.004). The evidence is unclear in other areas. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that oral contraceptives may have an effect on pelvic floor function. They could increase the risk of painful bladder and vulvar vestibulitis, but their effect on dyspareunia is inconsistent. However, robustly collected prospective data to establish causal associations are needed.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus infection in Argentinean women attending two different hospitals prior to the implementation of the National Vaccination Program.

Cervarix vaccine was included in the National Immunization Program of Argentina in 2011 but data about the local distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in women exposed to the virus are scarce. This cross-sectional study determined the prevalence and type distribution of HPV infection in unvaccinated women attending routine gynecological screening in two public hospitals located in Buenos Aires and Santa Fe, Argentina. Socio-demographic, sexual behavior, and co-factors information was obtained from all participants (Buenos Aires, n = 429; Santa Fe, n = 433). Cervicovaginal swabs were tested with an MY11/09 primer-based assay and with the CUT primer system targeting mucosal/cutaneous HPVs. Participants from Buenos Aires showed significantly higher rates of HPV infection (52.4% vs. 40.6%), of multiple infections (24.2% vs. 16.4%), and of low-risk (20.3% vs. 13.9%) and high-risk types (44.1% vs. 33.3%) than those from Santa Fe. HPV-66 (Buenos Aires: 17%) and HPV-16 (Santa Fe: 8.5%) were the most prevalent types. Novel HPV-66 putative subtype and variants were identified. Vaccine types 16 and 18 were frequent (Buenos Aires: 13.5%; Santa Fe: 10.2%) but few participants had co-infections with both (Buenos Aires: 1.4%; Santa Fe: 0.2%). A common risk factor for HPV infection was having a new sexual partner in the last year (Buenos Aires: OR 2.53, P < 0.001; Santa Fe: OR 1.85, P = 0.04). This study provides valuable baseline data for future assessment of the impact of massive vaccination in Argentina and it underlines the use of additional HPV testing strategies, such as the CUT system, for surveillance and vaccinology.