Oligo/amenorrhoeic premenopausal women: no effect of oral contraceptives on bone mineral density
| Study design | Reference | No of patients | OC exposure | Measurement of BMD/bone metabolism | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OC, Oral contraceptive; BMD, bone mineral density; RCT, randomised controlled trial; EE, ethinyl oestradiol; DXA, dual energy x ray absorptiometry; NS, non-significant. | |||||
| RCT (level 2b) | Gibson69 | 34 women with athletic oligo/amenorrhoea | Oestrogen treated (1 mg oestriol +2 mg oestradiol, days 1–12; 1 mg oestriol+2 mg oestradiol +1 mg norethisterone acetate, days 13–22; 0.5 mg oestriol+1 mg oestradiol, days23–28)+1000 mg calcium carbonate (n = 10) v 1000 mg calcium carbonate (n = 14) v control (n = 10) for 18 months | Lumbar spine, Ward’s triangle, femoral neck, trochanteric region DXA | NS increase in BMD from baseline in oestrogen treated group |
| Cohort (level 2b) | Gremion et al70 | 30 female long distance runners (ages 19–37) | 9 OC users, 10 eumenorrhoeic non-users, 11 oligo/amenorrhoeic non-users over 12 months | Lumbar spine, proximal femur, midfemoral shaft DXA; osteocalcin | No change in BMD from baseline at any site in OC treated group; decrease in lateral lumbar spine BMD from baseline in oligo/amenorrhoeic group; lower osteocalcin levels in OC treated group than in other 2 groups |