Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among a sample of women using hormonal contraceptive pills in Erbil city-Iraq

Abstract

Background and objectives: Women’s Health Initiative demonstrated cardiovascular risk linked to the use of oral contraceptive pills therefore the aim of this study is to find out the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and the effect of oral contraceptives pills on lipid profile, blood pressure and body mass index in a group of women of reproductive age in Erbil city.
Materials and methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on 246 women of child bearing age (14-49 years) from the May 2015 to the April 2016 in maternity teaching hospital and primary health care centers of Erbil. They were divided in two groups: the first group involved 123 women used oral contraceptive pills; the second group involved 123 women age matched not using oral contraceptive pills. Waist circumference, Body Mass Index and blood pressure were measured in all subjects. Fasting levels of serum glucose, triglycerides,  total  cholesterol,  high  density  lipoprotein  cholesterol  and  low  density lipoprotein  cholesterol  were  obtained.  Metabolic  syndrome  was  diagnosed  according  to criteria made by the United Nation National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Various parameters were compared among oral and control groups by using SPSS version 19.
Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among users was significantly higher than that among non-users (71.5% and 5.7%, respectively) (p<0.001) and the prevalence of hyperlipidemia was significantly higher among users compared with non-users (p< 0.001). The oral contraceptive pill users were at higher risk for cardiovascular disease than non-users according to the atherogenic index (48% was compared to 5.7% respectively) (p< 0.001). Users showed that they are at high or very high risk of developing diabetes in comparison to non users (45.5%and 4.9%) respectively. There was no awareness of the long term effect of oral contraceptives on cardiovascular disease among women. 
Conclusion: Using oral contraceptive pills by women in their reproductive age group increase significantly the risk of metabolic syndrome.