Hormonal contraception and sexual desire: A questionnaire-based study of young Swedish women

Agota Malmborg, Elin Persson, Jan Brynhildsen, Mats Hammar

Objectives The aim of the study was to determine whether a decrease in sexual desire is more prevalent among women using hormonal contraception than among women using hormone-free contraception, and whether a decrease increases the risk of changing to another contraceptive method. Methods A validated questionnaire was posted to 3740 women (aged 22, 25 or 28 years) living in Sweden. Descriptive statistics were used to present the results; differences between groups were tested using χ(2) analyses. A multiple logistic regression model was used for analysis of possible confounders. Results The response rate was 50%. The majority (81%) of respondents used some kind of contraception, and 88% were generally satisfied with the method used. Regardless of the type of method, 27% of hormonal contraceptive users reported a decrease in sexual desire that they attributed to their use of hormonal contraception, whereas only 12% of women using hormone-free contraception reported a decrease in sexual desire (p<0.01). This twofold risk of a decrease in sexual desire was shown in the multiple regression analysis to be independent of age group, depression, BMI, educational level and parity. However, having a partner was found to be a factor of equal importance: women with partners experienced reduced desire twice as often as women without partners. The observed odds ratio for planning to stop hormonal contraception or to change to a different type due to reduced desire was 8.16 (95% confidence interval 6.65-10.1) among women who had had the same experience during a previous period of hormonal contraceptive use. Conclusions Women using hormonal contraception were more likely to experience reduced sexual desire compared with women using hormone-free contraception. Experiencing reduced desire was a strong predictive factor for women to change contraceptive method.