Extended Oral Contraceptives May Provide Better Pregnancy Prevention

Oral contraceptive (OC) regimens that contain 84 active pills plus 7 placebo pills produce better ovarian suppression than conventional 21/7 regimens. To evaluate differences in pregnancy rates by regimen, industry-funded investigators compared three matched cohorts of >25,000 women (age range, 15–40 years) in a large retrospective U.S. insurance claims database who were prescribed OCs (84/7, 21/7, or 24/4 regimens) between 2006 and 2011.

One-year pregnancy rates in women using 84/7 regimens (4.4%) were significantly lower than rates for 21/7 (7.3%) or 24/4 regimens (6.9%). In the 2-year and 3-year cohorts, similar differences in pregnancy rates were seen.