Multicentre Trial Evaluating the Safety and Tolerability of Estetrol-Drospirenone Combined Oral Contraceptive in Postmenarchal Female Adolescents
<b>Objectives</b>: This study aims to evaluate the safety and tolerability of estetrol/drospirenone in adolescents. <b>Methods</b>: In this Phase 3 open-label study, postmenarchal adolescents (12-17 years) received estetrol (E4)/drospirenone (DRSP) 15 mg/3 mg orally for six cycles (24 active/4 placebo regimen). Safety was evaluated through adverse event (AE) reporting. Participants also recorded daily pill intake, bleeding/spotting, dysmenorrhea, and pain medication use in e-diaries. Descriptive statistics were used. <b>Results</b>: Of 112 enrolled participants, 105 received treatment (mean age: 15.2 years), and 84.8% were completers. No serious treatment-related AEs or safety concerns were observed. Nausea and dysmenorrhea (each 1.9%) were the most common treatment-related AEs. Over 71% of participants took all tablets in each cycle. The percentage of participants with unscheduled bleeding and/or spotting decreased from 45.8% (Cycle 1) to 14.5% (Cycle 5), and the number of days with unscheduled bleeding and/or spotting decreased from nine to six days per cycle. The scheduled bleeding and/or spotting rate ranged between 77.4% and 90.5%, with a duration decreasing from six to four days in Cycle 1 to Cycle 5. Absence of scheduled bleeding increased from 9.5% in Cycle 3 to 22.6% in Cycle 5. The proportion of participants reporting dysmenorrhea decreased by 34.8%, with a median visual analogue scale score dropping from 5.0 at baseline to 3.7 at Cycle 6. Pain medication use decreased from 63.9% to 31.6% in Cycle 6. <b>Conclusions</b>: The use of E4/DRSP in adolescents raised no safety concerns, was well tolerated, resulted in a clear and stable cyclic bleeding pattern, and reduced pain associated with dysmenorrhea.
Authors
- Lali Pkhaladze (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4690-9140)
- Dan Apter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5175-8845)
- Kristina Gemzell‐Danielsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6516-1444)
- Kai Haldre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0260-986X)
- Angelica Lindén Hirschberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6481-6277)
- Kateryna Ruban
- Nina C. Flerin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9867-6994)
- Guillaume Chatel
Institutions
- Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- East Tallinn Central Hospital (EE)
- University of Georgia (GE)
- Haute École de la Province de Liège (BE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Published
- 2025-12-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14248832
- Primary Topic
- Reproductive Health and Contraception
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00