Women's attitudes about combined hormonal contraception (CHC) - induced menstrual bleeding changes - influence of personality traits in an Italian clinical sample.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the attitudes to change the frequency of menstrual bleeding by using combined hormonal contraception (CHC). Personality characteristics were also explored.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in two university hospitals in northern Italy. Current, past and never CHC users ( n  = 545; age 18-44 years) completed a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire and the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI).

RESULTS: Forty-five percent of responders ( n  = 301) would prefer to change their bleeding frequency by using CHC. A flexible regimen was the preferred choice ( n  = 80; 33%) followed by extended regimens to bleed every 3 months ( n  = 54; 22%) or to never bleed ( n  = 43; 18%). The main positive reasons were to avoid dysmenorrhea (43%) and have more freedom in sexual (36%) and active (35%) life, whereas the main reason for a negative attitude was 'menstrual rhythm is natural' (59%). Age had a significant influence on women's willingness to change menstrual frequency by using CHC [>39 years (57%), 30-39 years (31%) and <30 years (46%)] (χ2 : 9.1; p  = 0.01). Never users significantly reported a more negative attitude (71%) in comparison with past (51%) and current users (49%) (χ2 : 18.7; p  = 0.001). Personality traits played a role, with higher scores of openness ( p  = 0.005) and extraversion ( p  = 0.001) in women with a positive attitude.

CONCLUSIONS: Almost half of our study sample reported a preference for changing their menstrual pattern by using CHC. Flexibility was the preferred choice across age and use of CHC. Personality characteristics (openness and extroversion) might influence attitudes toward CHC-induced menstrual bleeding changes.