Analysis of the current demographic situation in Ukraine in recent years indicates the presence of a deep demographic crisis against the background of socio-economic problems and the military-political situation. Under such conditions, one of the aspects of the country’s effective demographic policy should be the improvement of women’s reproductive health, which depends on the level of abortions. In Ukraine, the rate of abortions has decreased significantly in recent years and today is 4.6 per 1,000 reproductive age women, while the rate of births exceeds the rate of abortions. Evra^® is the only contraceptive patch in Europe with transdermal introduction of hormones. With its use, it is possible to ensure a constant level of ethinylestradiol and norelgestromin in a woman’s blood without peaks and troughs bypassing the gastrointestinal tract. The purpose of the study: to compare the effectiveness, safety and convenience of using the Evra^® transdermal patch with a combined oral contraceptive in reproductive age women. Materials and methods. To achieve the goal, 266 reproductive age women who needed reliable contraception and used various modern hormonal methods of contraception were observed during 2023. The women were divided into the following clinical groups: the first group (main) — healthy reproductive age women who used the transdermal hormonal system for contraception (n=133); the second group (comparison) — healthy reproductive age women who used a combined oral contraceptive for the purpose of contraception (n=133). The results. The average age of the patients was 28.5±0.5 years. The analysis of the conducted studies showed that the Evra^® transdermal hormonal patch is a highly effective contraceptive drug that does not affect the studied parameters of hormonal and non-hormonal homeostasis, and is well tolerated by women. During our study, the use of transdermal contraception in reproductive age women prevented unplanned pregnancy in 100% of cases. Evaluating the convenience of the contraceptive method on a five-point scale, women who used the transdermal hormonal patch gave an average score of 4.97; in the group of women who used combined oral contraceptives, the result was significantly lower: the average score was 4.3 (p<0.05). The transdermal form of the contraceptive avoids the effect of «first passage» through the liver, as a result, women who used transdermal contraception had 3.5 times less complications from the gastrointestinal tract. Conclusions. Evra^® transdermal hormonal system is a modern, easy-to-use and reliable method of hormonal contraception for reproductive age women. It allows you to avoid the effect of «first passage» through the liver. Using the patch only once a week increases patients’ compliance with its use. The constant level of ethinylestradiol and norelgestromin in a woman’s blood, provided by the Evra^® patch, makes it possible to improve the psycho-emotional state of women and increase libido, avoid such complications as premenstrual syndrome and thrombosis, achieve a significant cosmetic effect that positively affects the quality of life of women of reproductive age.

Author: Gorbunova O.V.

Transdermal contraception for high-quality life