Prácticas de anticoncepción en mujeres con enfermedad reumática autoinmune en Bogota, D.C., Colombia, 2017

Abstract

Introduction: Rheumatic autoimmune diseases (ARDs) affect mainly women in fertile age. They can be associated with genetic, hormonal or environmental factors. In Colombia, oral contraceptives are the second in use by women between 13 and 49 years. The objective of this paper is to describe the habits of contraception in women with (ARDs) and to explore the factors associated with contraception. Methods: this was cross-sectional exploratory study in which a self-report survey was applied to investigate the contraceptive practices and gyneco-obstetric history. Univariate and bivariate analyses were done. The statistical tests X2 and Kruskal-Wallis were done. Results: Of the 188 women followed by the rheumatologist during 2017, 57 were in fertile age. The mean age was 36,7 ± 7,4 with a mean age at disease onset of 25,5 ± 7,5. Of the included patients, 24.6% were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, 54.4% with systemic lupus eruthematosus, 12.2% with systemic sclerosis and 8.8% with Sjögren´s syndrome. Polyautoimmunity (i.e, two or more simultaneous autoimmune diseases) was observed in 10.5% of patients. The most frequently used contraceptive methods were: definite (33.3%), oral contraceptives (24.6%), barrier (1.7%) and natural or no contraception (28.1%). The age at disease onset was associated with the civil status (p=0.004) and the presence of ARD (p<0.001). The definite contraceptive method was associated with polyautoimmunity (p=0.03) and the level of education (p=0.01). Other contraceptive methods showed no significant associations. Conclusions: women with ARDs use mostly definite contraception methods which appears to have high safety and efficacy in these patients. The use of oral contraceptives shows a minimal risk in these patients.