THE EFFECT OF ORAL CONTRACEPTIVE HORMONES ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN WOMEN REFERRED TO HEALTH CENTERS OF URMIA

From 1948 in which the World Health Organization emphasized on health as a
complete physical, mental and social one, and not merely the absence of disease and disability, the
concept of quality of life has been changed, and subsequently health care researches have been gradually
increased. The most common method is oral contraceptives, LD, So, due to controversies about different
methods of contraception, this study tries to investigate the effect of the most common method, LD, on
women's quality of life.
Materials & Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytic one. The quality of life of two groups of
women, i.e. new applicants of LD (190 students), and the old LD users (200 patients) referring to
different health centers of Urmia University of Medical Sciences were collected and compared. The
instrument used in this study was a two-part questionnaire containing demographic questions, and Quality
of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL_BREF). The data were analyzed by using SPSS program (ver.13) to
obtain the absolute frequency and percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square tests, t-test, and
analysis of variance.
Results: In this study, two groups were matched and made similar concerning their age, husband's age,
and number of children. Except physical dimension, the quality of life scores between the two groups
were not significantly different. In the group who had taken LD for more than a year, their physical scores
had increased significantly.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study and other studies, the reason for average increase in the
physical dimension, can be the result of the direct and obvious effect of LD on reducing dysmenorrhea,
amount and duration of menstrual bleeding, the physical symptoms of PMS, acne, etc