Efficacy, tolerability and acceptability of a novel contraceptive vaginal ring releasing etonogestrel and ethinyl oestradiol

A novel contraceptive vaginal ring releasing etonogestrel 120 mug and ethin yl oestradiol 15 mug daily over a period of 3 weeks was tested. Each ring w as used for one cycle, comprising 3 weeks of ring use followed by a 1 week ring-free period, This 1 year, multicentre study assessed the contraceptive efficacy, cycle control, tolerability and acceptability of the contracepti ve. Altogether, 1145 women were exposed to the vaginal ring for 12 109 cycl es (928 woman-years). Six pregnancies occurred during treatment, giving a P earl Index of 0.65 (95% confidence interval 0.24-1.41). Cycle control was v ery good, since irregular bleeding was rare (2.6-6.4% of evaluable cycles) and withdrawal bleeding (mean duration 4.7-5.3 days) occurred in 97.9-99.4% of evaluable cycles, Compliance to the prescribed regimen was high with cr iteria being fulfilled in 90.8% of cycles. The ring was well tolerated. The majority of women considered this new contraceptive method easy to use, an d it offers an effective, convenient, well-accepted and novel method for ho rmonal contraception.