In the Long Run, Oral Contraceptive Pills Don't Raise Mortality

In a large prospective cohort study of the health effects of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), U.K. investigators recruited 23,000 women and gathered information biannually on hormonal preparations prescribed, pregnancies, illnesses, surgeries, and deaths. In their latest follow-up, the investigators analyzed mortality data between OCP never users and ever users (378,000 and 819,000 woman-years, respectively) from study onset in 1968 to June 2007.

In both study groups, all-cause mortality rose with age and was higher among smokers than nonsmokers. Ever users of OCPs, however, had 12% lower all-cause mortality, 15% lower all-cancer mortality, 14% lower all–circulatory disease mortality, and 25% lower ischemic heart disease mortality. Ever user…