Women looking for a birth control method involving less commitment than taking a pill every day will be happy to know the FDA has recently approved the first skin-patch contraceptive.
Ortho Evra is a one-and-three-quarter inch square patch that is applied to the arm, abdomen or buttocks. The patch is replaced once a week for three weeks and removed during the fourth week of the cycle to allow for menstruation.
It delivers progestin and estrogen through the skin, which are the same hormones found in traditional combination oral contraceptives, working much like the nicotine patch does to help people quit smoking.
Clinical trials have shown the patch stays attached through swimming, treadmill exercise, saunas and whirlpools.
Ortho Evra is 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. These rates are very similar to those found with traditional oral contraceptives when used correctly.
However, studies show that between 30 percent and 50 percent of oral contraceptives users miss at least one pill per cycle, which increases the risk of pregnancy.
Ortho Evra is one of several new contraceptive methods that have recently been developed and approved by the FDA that eases the daily responsibility of having to remember to take a pill everyday.
Developers hope new methods will lead to better compliance resulting in lower typical-use failure rates, which is around 5 percent for oral contraceptives.
“You have to remember contraceptives are a pretty demanding prevention activity,” Scott Spear, director of clinical services at University Health Services said. “So anything you have to do less frequently is better and will raise the likelihood of it working.”
The Nuvaring, another combination-hormone-based contraceptive, is a small plastic ring inserted into the vagina that stays in place for three weeks and is removed during the fourth week for menstruation.
Side effects of Ortho Evra include breast discomfort, headache, nausea and mild to moderate irritation at the application site. Other side effects related to oral contraceptives include increased risk of blood clots, stroke and heart attack.
Though each of the hormone-based contraceptive methods are effective at preventing pregnancy, it should be noted none of them protects against sexually transmitted diseases.
“What has to be said about these two methods, like the birth control pill, is that they don’t provide any protection against STDs,” UW professor of psychology Janet Hyde said. “In fact, [they] make you a little bit more vulnerable to gonorrhea and chlamydia because they change the pH in the vagina and make it more vulnerable to infection.”
Spear said he does not feel the patch will be particularly popular among college students due to price and satisfaction with current methods. If interested, however, it will be available through UHS in the near future.
According to Hyde, whether women choose to use these new methods or not it is a positive advancement in contraceptives because they provide more choices.
“The more options that you have the better because then women can get the one that matches who they are,” Hyde said.
