ORAL CONTRACEPTION AND EYE DISEASE - FINDINGS IN 2 LARGE COHORT STUDIES

Aim-To investigate the relation between oral contraceptive use and cer tain eye diseases. Methods-Abstraction of the relevant data from the t wo large British cohort studies of the effects of oral contraception, the Royal College of General Practitioners' (RCGP) Oral Contraception Study and the Oxford-Family Planning Association (Oxford-FPA) Contrace ptive Study. Bath cohort studies commenced in 1968 and were organised on a national basis. Between them they have accumulated over 850000 pe rson years of observation involving 63000 women. Results-The condition s considered in the analysis were conjunctivitis, keratitis, iritis, l acrimal disease, strabismus, cataract, glaucoma, retinal detachment, a nd retinal vascular lesions. With the exception of retinal vascular le sions, there was no consistent evidence of important increases in risk of eye diseases in users of oral contraception. There was about a two fold increase in the risk of retinal vascular lesions in recent pill u sers in both studies (statistically significant only in the RCGP study ). The increase was not Limited to any specific type of lesion and may well reflect diagnostic bias. Conclusion-Oral contraceptive use does not appear to increase the risk of eye disease, with the possible exce ption of retinal vascular lesions.