HORMONAL CONTRACEPTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH A REDUCED RISK OF BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

BackgroundWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data to examine the association between hormonal contraception (HC) and bacterial vaginosis (BV).MethodsThree databases (Medline, Web of Science and Embase) were searched until the end of January 2013 and duplicate references removed. Inclusion criteria were (1) > 20 BV cases; (2) data available to derive the association between HC and BV; (3) > 10% of participants used HC; (4) accepted BV diagnostic method. Data extracted included: type of HC, BV diagnostic method, and BV outcome (prevalent, incident, recurrent). Meta-analyses were conducted to calculate overall and pooled odds/risk ratios (OR/RR), stratified by HC-ty..