The injectable contraceptive depot-medroxyprogesterone
acetate (DMPA) appears to increase a woman’s risk of
acquiring the sexually transmitted infections chlamydia and
gonorrhea by approximately three fold when compared to
women not using a hormonal contraceptive, according to a
study jointly funded by the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National
Institutes of Health and the U.S. Agency for International
Development’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health.
DMPA is marketed under the product name Depo Provera. The
contraceptive is injected into either the arm or buttocks
four times a year.
The study was unable to determine why DMPA might increase
the risk for these infections.
“These findings underscore the need to counsel all sexually
active women who use DMPA and who are not in a mutually
monogamous relationship to use condoms consistently and
correctly,” said the study’s first author, Charles
Morrison, Ph.D., of Family Health International in Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina. “For sexually active women
not in a mutually monogamous relationship, limiting the
number of partners may also help to reduce the risk.”