Women's attitudes about combined hormonal contraception (CHC) - induced menstrual bleeding changes - influence of personality traits in an Italian clinical sample

• Published in: Gynecological endocrinology Vol. 39; no. 1; p. 2189971
• Main Authors: Nappi, Rossella E., Tiranini, Lara, Bosoni, David, Cucinella, Laura, Piccinino, Manuela, Cumetti, Andrea, Perone, Valeria, Benedetto, Chiara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 14.12.2023; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Attitudes; bleeding pattern; combined hormonal contraceptive; Contraception; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Hormonal Contraception; Humans; Italy - epidemiology; Menstruation; Personality; tailored contraceptive regimen; Young Adult; Italy; Attitudes; combined hormonal contraceptive; bleeding pattern; tailored contraceptive regimen; personality
• ISSN: 0951-3590; 1473-0766
• DOI: 10.1080/09513590.2023.2189971

We investigated the attitudes to change the frequency of menstrual bleeding by using combined hormonal contraception (CHC). Personality characteristics were also explored. We conducted a cross-sectional study in two university hospitals in northern Italy. Current, past and never CHC users (n = 545; age 18-44 years) completed a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). Forty-five percent of responders (n = 301) would prefer to change their bleeding frequency by using CHC. A flexible regimen was the preferred choice (n = 80; 33%) followed by extended regimens to bleed every 3 months (n = 54; 22%) or to never bleed (n = 43; 18%). The main positive reasons were to avoid dysmenorrhea (43%) and have more freedom in sexual (36%) and active (35%) life, whereas the main reason for a negative attitude was 'menstrual rhythm is natural' (59%). Age had a significant influence on women's willingness to change menstrual frequency by using CHC [>39 years (57%), 30-39 years (31%) and <30 years (46%)] (χ 2 : 9.1; p = 0.01). Never users significantly reported a more negative attitude (71%) in comparison with past (51%) and current users (49%) (χ 2 : 18.7; p = 0.001). Personality traits played a role, with higher scores of openness (p = 0.005) and extraversion (p = 0.001) in women with a positive attitude. Almost half of our study sample reported a preference for changing their menstrual pattern by using CHC. Flexibility was the preferred choice across age and use of CHC. Personality characteristics (openness and extroversion) might influence attitudes toward CHC-induced menstrual bleeding changes.