Table 14 Perimenopausal women studies: no effect of oral contraceptives on bone mineral density.

Study design	Reference	No of patients	OC exposure	Measurement of BMD/bone metabolism	Results
Cross sectional	Fortney et al88	352 perimenopausal women (ages 40–54)	Ever OC users (n = 260) v never users (n = 92)	Lumbar spine, radius DPA	NS increase in spinal BMD in OC users of longer duration and more recent use
	Beksinska et al89	496 perimenopausal women (ages 40–49)	OC users (30–40 μg EE) (n = 106) v DMPA (n = 127) v NET‐EN (n = 102) (all for ⩾1year) v control (n = 101)	Distal radius, midshaft ulna DXA	No significant difference in BMD between any of the groups
Case series (level 4)	Volpe et al90	37 perimenopausal women (ages 45–48)	20 μg EE+150 μg desogestrel for 24 months	Lumbar spine DPA	NS increase in BMD (increase 8%)

OC, Oral contraceptive; BMD, bone mineral density; DPA, dual photon absorptiometry; NS, non‐significant; EE, ethinyl oestradiol; DMPA, deoxymedroxyprogesterone acetate; NET‐EN, norethisterone enanthate; DXA, dual energy x ray absorptiometry.