Altering the Conventional Oral Contraceptive Regimen Might Make Sense

Breakthrough bleeding is associated with the use of conventional oral contraceptives (OCs) in some women and may affect adherence. In a 6-month, open-label study, investigators randomized 938 women to a conventional OC regimen (21 days of active pills followed by 7 days of placebo) or to 24 days of active pills followed by 3 days of placebo. Active pills in both regimens contained norethindrone acetate (1 mg) and ethinyl estradiol (20 μg). Bleeding profiles based on self-reported diaries were compared for the two groups.

By the sixth cycle, the 24-day regimen was associated with significantly fewer days of intracyclic bleeding (0.95 vs. 1.63) and days of withdrawal bleeding (2.66 vs. 3.88) than the conventional regimen. The mean number of to…