Conditions: Ovarian Suppression
Keywords: Ovarian Suppression Oral Contraceptives Obese and Normal BMI
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 226
Healthy volunteers: yes

Brief summary:
This study proposes a double blind randomized clinical trial to include normal weight and obese women who have normal ovulatory function at baseline; the investigators will randomize women to 2 widely used OCs and evaluate ovarian follicle development and circulating progesterone to assess ovarian suppression during OC use.

Detailed description:
There is a large gap between lowest expected failure rates of about 1.5% and typical use failure rates of about 7% per year. This gap may be due to incorrect use or to decreased oral contraceptive (OC) effectiveness in population subgroups. Recent reports suggest greater OC failure among heavier women, particularly those using the lowest doses. The prevalence of obesity in the US population has recently increased to about 23% in women aged 20-29, peak years for OC use. OC physiology and effectiveness have not been evaluated in obese women.

Arms:
arm 1: Participants with a BMI of 19-24.9 kg/m\^2 arm 2: Participants with a BMI of 30-39.9 kg/m\^2

Interventions: intervention 1: Low dose formulation intervention 2: High dose formulation
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Participants are randomized to either Portia (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol tablets, United States Pharmacopeia (USP)0.15 mg/0.03 mg or Lessina (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol tablets, USP 0.1 mg/0.02 mg) for 3 months use.

Dose formula contains 20 ug of ethinyl estradiol (EE) and 100 ug of levonorgestrel (LN) per tablet. intervention 2: Participants are randomized to either Portia (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol tablets, United States Pharmacopeia (USP)0.15 mg/0.03 mg or Lessina (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol tablets, USP 0.1 mg/0.02 mg) for 3 months use.

Dose formula contains 30 ug of ethinyl estradiol (EE) and 150 ug of levonorgestrel (LN) per tablet.

Protocol document: