EFFECT OF COMBINED ORAL CONTRACEPTIVE PILLS ON LIPID PROFILE, BLOOD PRESSURE AND BODY MASS INDEX IN WOMEN OF CHILD BEARING AGE

Objective: To find out the effect of combined oral contraceptives pills (COCPs) on lipid profile, blood pressure and body mass index in females of reproductive age.Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted from January 2011 to December 2011 in Family Planning Department of tertiary referral health care hospitals of Peshawar.A total of 200 married fertile women of child bearing age (14-49 years) participated in the study. They were divided in two groups: Group 1 (COCPs users at least for six months) and group 2 (age matched controls not using COCPs).Fasting levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were analyzed using chemistry analyzer. Haemoglobin (Hb) and platelets counts were measured on haematology analyzer. Body Mass Index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) were measured in all subjects. Various parameters were compared among oral and control groups by using SPSS version 10.Results: Comparing females of group-1 vs group-2, there was significant increase of cholesterol (185+3.27mg/dl vs 158.26+2.81mg/dL; p=0.0001),triglycerides (207.33+4.92mg/dL vs 135.63+4.49mg/dL; p=0.0001), LDL-C(98.20+ 3.11mg/dL vs 85.19+2.65mg/dL; p= 0.002), BMI (27.52+0.371 vs 24.79+0.34 Kg/m2; p=0.0004), systolic BP (133.30+1.71 vs 122.69+1.35mmHg; p=0.0007) and diastolic BP (84.85+1.16 vs 80.79+0.89 mmHg; p=0.009). Changes in the HDL-C (46.18+0.82 vs 45.92+0.91mg/dL;p=0.833), Hb (12.95+ 0.16 vs 12.47+0.17 g/dL; p=0.045) and platelet count (262510.00+8822.64 vs 258882.63+9843.44 thousand/uL) were not significant.Conclusion: Significantly elevated lipid profile, BP and BMI were recorded in women using COCPs.