Link Explored for NSAID Use, Hormonal Contraception, VTE Risk

MONDAY, Sept. 11, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- In women of reproductive age, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use is associated with venous thromboembolism, with significantly more additional events with concomitant use of high-/medium- versus low-/no-risk hormonal contraception, according to a study published online Sept. 6 in The BMJ.

Amani Meaidi, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and colleagues conducted a nationwide cohort study involving 2,029,065 women aged 15 to 49 years living in Denmark during 1996 and 2017 with no medical history of any venous or arterial thrombotic event, cancer, thrombophilia, hysterectomy, bilateral oophorectomy, sterilization, or infertility treatment to examine the influence of concomitant use of hormonal contraception and NSAIDs on the risk for venous thromboembolism.

The researchers identified 8,710 venous thromboembolic events among the cohort of women followed for 21.0 million person-years. Use of NSAIDs versus nonuse was associated with an adjusted incidence rate ratio for venous thromboembolism of 7.2 in women not using hormonal contraception and of 11.0, 7.9, and 4.5 in women using high-, medium-, and low-/no-risk hormonal contraception, respectively. Compared with nonuse of NSAIDs, the corresponding numbers of extra venous thromboembolic events per 100,000 women during the first week of NSAID treatment were four in women not using hormonal contraception and 23, 11, and three in women using high-, medium, and low-/no-risk hormonal contraception, respectively.

"Considering the highly prevalent indications for use of hormonal contraception and of NSAIDs, studying this association further would be of public interest, especially in regular users of NSAIDs, who might benefit from a low/no risk hormonal contraceptive rather than a high/medium risk hormonal contraceptive," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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