Adverse Effects of Hormonal Contraceptives: Myth & Reality

Hormonal contraception has been an available method of birth control for over four decades Despite this, women's knowledge often moves between myth and reality, and never has another medical finding aroused over similar controversial opinions. Misperceptions, previous personal experience, suggestion by poor experience from other women and influence of mass media, sometimes contribute to noncompliance or drop-out of the used hormonal contraceptive method because of the user's rational or irrational anxieties (1). In fact, this flash- information may lead to a clear-cut relationship between negative suggestion and the incidence of emotional refusal(2). Particularly, the mass media continue to show an ambiguous behaviour enhancing the health risks of COCs use with a generic and uncritical manner or emphasising the good effects of the hormonal contraceptives without informing about their risks.