Oral Contraceptive Pills Use and Hypertension

Background and objective: All over the world, 150 million women use Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCPs). Because of such a high consumption level, any risky impact of these pills on public health would be important. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between consumption of OCPs and hypertension. Method: In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, 165women below 40 years of age who used OCPs were selected by convenience sampling. Necessary information was obtained by a checklist containing demographic information, obstetric history, and OCPs use history based on the subjects’ medical records. Besides, blood pressure and weight were measured at the beginning of OCPs consumption as well as 6 months and one year after that. Results: The results showed a significant difference between the subjects’ mean systolic blood pressure one year after OCPs consumption compared to the beginning (P=0.03). Moreover, this difference was related to the type of pills, such a way that it was significant in the patients who took Low Dose (LD) OCPs compared to those who used Triphasic pills (P=0.01). Conclusion: Consuming the currently available OCPs that contain lower estrogen content had an insignificant effect on blood pressure. However, it is recommended to take care of blood pressure in order to identify the unique occasional responses.