The Combined Effect of Obesity and Contraceptive Use on Pulmonary Embolism in Adolescent Females Residing in the United States.
Obese adolescents using combined oral contraceptives had double the pulmonary embolism risk
The Combined Effect of Obesity and Contraceptive Use on Pulmonary Embolism in Adolescent Females Residing in the United States.
Combined oral contraceptive (contraceptive) use in obese adult women dramatically increases the relative risk of developing a pulmonary embolism (pulmonary embolism).
The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of body mass index (BMI) and contraceptive use on pulmonary embolism in adolescent females.
A retrospective cohort study was carried out of a health-information database.
obese teens on the pill had over double the clot risk of those not using it
The final analytical sample included 789,453 subjects.
The overall 1-year incidence of pulmonary embolism was 16.7 per 100,000 patients.
Obese versus normal weight adolescents had a 56% increased risk of pulmonary embolism (relative risk [RR] = 1.56; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.03-2.37) and contraceptive use versus none had a 65% increased risk of pulmonary embolism (RR = 1.65; 95% CI = 1.14-2.40).
Both obesity and contraceptive use increase the relative risk of pulmonary embolism in adolescent females. Their combined effect increases the relative risk two-fold. Although the relative risk is elevated, the absolute risk remains low.
Most obese adolescent females who take contraceptive will not develop a pulmonary embolism. However, these data may be useful for shared decision-making when discussing contraceptive use in overweight or obese adolescent females.