Abstract
Background: combined oral contraceptives (COCs) are one of the most popular methods of contraception. Apart from pregnancy prevention, it has proven other positive non-contraceptive effects. However, there are cases of acne vulgaris (AV) manifestation during COCs intake or its course worsens, which can lead to treatment refusing. Aim: to study the COCs effect (20 μg ethinyl estradiol (EE) and 3 mg drospirenone (DRSP)) on the skin condition of young women with a regular menstrual period. Patients and Methods: a prospective study was performed, which included 18 female patients of reproductive age (mean age 20.67±0.46 y.o.) with a regular menstrual period who sought medical advice to select a contraceptive. Of these, 11 had mild to moderate AV manifestations. The female patients were recommended to take DRSP-containing COConce daily before bedtime from the 1st day of the menstrual period for 28 straight days (1 period) — a total of 6 periods. Before the treatment initiation, as well as 3 and 6 months after the COCs intake start, the skin condition and indicators of the Acne-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (Acne-QoL) of female patients with AV were evaluated. Results: the number of female patients without AV or with improvement after 3 and 6 months of treatment was 12 (66.67%) and 18 (100%), respectively. Compared with the baseline, there was a statistically significant decrease in Acne-QoL from 68 (63-80) to 40 (36-50) and 5 (10- 17) after 3 and 6 months, respectively (p<0.05). The good tolerability of DRSP-containing COC was also noted. Adverse events that were independently eliminated and did not require drug withdrawal were recorded in two (11.1%) cases. Conclusion: the use of DRSP-containing COC (20 μg EE and 3 mg DRSP) in women with a regular menstrual period improves skin condition (reduces the amount and severity of AV) and reduces Acne-QoL. KEYWORDS: acne, drospirenone, ethinyl estradiol, reproductive period, regular menstrual period, acne vulgaris, questionnaire, quality of life. FOR CITATION: Saprykina L.V., Narimanova M.R. Drospirenone-containing contraceptive effect on the skin condition in women with a regular menstrual period. Russian Journal of Woman and Child Health. 2024;7(1):41–44 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.32364/2618-8430-2024-7-1-6.
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