Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of healthy, never-pregnant women according to use of contraceptives (n = 158).
| Non-users N = 76 | Users of hormonal contraceptives | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| With estrogen and progestins N = 58 | Progestin-only N = 24 | |||
| Age, y, mean (SD) | 25.6 (5.6) | 24.9 (4.1) | 24.8 (4.0) | 0.61* |
| BMI, kg/m2, median (IQR) | 22.2 (20.8, 24.5) | 21.0 (20.1, 21.8) | 22.3 (20.6, 23.6) | 0.13** |
| Higher education, n (%) | ||||
| <12 years | 10 (13%) | 4 (7%) | 0 (0%) | 0.09*** |
| 13–17 years | 19 (25%) | 24 (41%) | 7 (29%) | |
| >17 years | 47 (62%) | 30 (52%) | 17 (71%) | |
| Vegetarian diet, n (%) | 17 (22%) | 11 (19%) | 6 (25%) | 0.81*** |
| Regular users of supplements, (≥3 days/week), n (%) | ||||
| Multivitamins/minerals | 15 (20%) | 14 (24%) | 6 (25%) | 0.80*** |
| Omega 3 fatty acids/Cod oil | 30 (40%) | 30 (52%) | 10 (42%) | 0.35*** |
| Iron | 11 (15%) | 9 (16%) | 2 (8%) | 0.68*** |
| Regular users of tobacco, based on plasma cotinine >85 µmol/L, n (%) | 8 (11%) | 7 (12%) | 2 (8%) | 0.87*** |
| Alcohol, number of units/week, median (IQR) | 1.0 (0.3, 3.0) | 2.0 (1.0, 4.0) | 2.8 (1.0, 4.0) | 0.006** |
*Comparison by Anova test.
**Comparison by Kruskal Wallis test.
***Comparison by Pearson Chi-Square test.