Low Dose IUDs Safe and Effective: Study

Many women across the world use various types of birth control in order to prevent pregnancy. Some who are hoping to prevent pregnancy for years at a time may chose to use an intrauterine device as a contraceptive method while still having an active sex life (though this and oral, patch or injectable contraceptive treatments will not prevent STDs or STIs.)

Yet a recent study looks at the effectiveness of two intrauterine contraceptives with lower doses of the hormone levonorgestrel, both of which were found to be effective in preventing pregnancy.

According to researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed), they discuss the popularity of higher dose IUDs in the United States, which do not require a woman to take a pill for intercourse in order to prevent pregnancy. However, they note that close to 60 percent of physicians will not prescribe IUDs for women who have not borne children. And in many European countries, they're only prescribed for women who have completed their families. Another study even suggested that intrauterine contraceptive systems failed in 19 percent of women who had not yet had children.

Researchers believe through studies that lower-dose intrauterine contraceptive systems are smaller than higher dose ones and easier to use in women who have not delivered a child or have delivered only by cesarean section. They looked at 138 centers across 11 countries and tested the devices in nearly 3,000 women and rated placement of the smaller devices as "easy" in 90 percent of the women.

The study examined one intrauterine contraceptive system with 13.5 milligrams of levonogestrel and another with 19.5 milligrams. Results showed both were highly effective and well-tolerated over a three-year period. The current available higher dose system has 52 milligrams of the hormone.

"By demonstrating the safety and efficacy of low-dose intrauterine contraceptive devices, this study will help expand the contraceptive options available to women who have not had children before," said Anita Nelson, MD, an LA BioMed lead researcher and corresponding author of the study, via a press release. "Additionally, a lower dose system may be preferable to women who are seeking to reduce their exposure to synthetic hormones."

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.