Prevalence of Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Self-Reported Symptomatic Experiences Attributed to the Menstrual Cycle or Hormonal Contraceptive Use in Norwegian Women: The Effect of Training Categories and Age Groups - The FENDURA Project

John Owen Osborne; Jonas H Storvand; Tina P Engseth; Guro S Solli; Bente Morseth; Madison Y Taylor; Boye Welde; Kirsty J Elliott-Sale; Erik P Andersson; Øyvind Sandbakk; Dionne A Noordhof

doi:10.1111/sms.70096

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Prevalence of Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Self-Reported Symptomatic Experiences Attributed to the Menstrual Cycle or Hormonal Contraceptive Use in Norwegian Women: The Effect of Training Categories and Age Groups - The FENDURA Project

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Prevalence of Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Self-Reported Symptomatic Experiences Attributed to the Menstrual Cycle or Hormonal Contraceptive Use in Norwegian Women: The Effect of Training Categories and Age Groups - The FENDURA Project

John Owen Osborne, Jonas H Storvand, Tina P Engseth, Guro S Solli, Bente Morseth, Madison Y Taylor, Boye Welde, Kirsty J Elliott-Sale, Erik P Andersson, Øyvind Sandbakk, …

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, Vol.35(7), pp.1-11

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.70096

PMCID: PMC12254879

PMID: 40650410

Appears in UniSC Diversity and Inclusion Research Collection

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Abstract

combined oral contraceptive

long-acting reversible contraception

menstrual disorders

symptoms

progestin-only contraceptives

UniSC Diversity Area - Disability and Inclusion

The aims of the current study were to (1) report the prevalence of hormonal contraceptive (HC) use among Norwegian women across different training categories and age groups; (2) compare the frequency and severity of cycle-related symptoms across differing training categories and age groups; and (3) describe the bleeding pattern and prevalence of menstrual disorder/disturbances among non-HC users. A sample of 2059 Norwegian women completed a survey reporting: weekly training volume; current HC usage, type, and reasons for use; cycle-related symptom frequency and severity; and the prevalence of menstrual disorders/disturbances. Respondents were categorized by age (youth: 13-20; young adults: 21-30; older adults: 31-50 years) and training category (minimal: 0; low: < 5; moderate: 5-9; high: ≥ 9 h·week). Half (51.6%) of respondents reported current HC usage, predominantly long-acting reversible contraception or combined oral contraceptives. Young adults had the highest prevalence of HC use (62.7%) compared to youth (48.4%) and older adults (43.8%), although no differences in usage were seen across training categories. HC users reported fewer and less severe cycle-related symptoms compared to non-users. A third (30.8%) of non-HC users had experienced a menstrual disorder/disturbance, with no significant differences observed across training categories or age groups. In conclusion, HC use is widespread among Norwegian women, with no differences between training categories. This similar HC prevalence suggests that HC research conducted in female cohorts may be generalizable, independent of training category. However, attention should be paid to participants' age due to differences in HC use between age groups.

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Title: Prevalence of Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Self-Reported Symptomatic Experiences Attributed to the Menstrual Cycle or Hormonal Contraceptive Use in Norwegian Women: The Effect of Training Categories and Age Groups - The FENDURA Project
Authors: John Owen Osborne (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health
Jonas H Storvand - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Tina P Engseth - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Guro S Solli - Nord University
Bente Morseth - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Madison Y Taylor - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Boye Welde - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Kirsty J Elliott-Sale - Manchester Metropolitan University
Erik P Andersson - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Øyvind Sandbakk - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Dionne A Noordhof - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Publication details: Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, Vol.35(7), pp.1-11
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1111/sms.70096
ISSN: 1600-0838
PMID: 40650410; PMC12254879
Copyright note: © 2025 The Author(s). Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science In Sports published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Data Availability: The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Grant note: This study was funded by the Tromsø Research Foundation and UiT The Arctic University of Norway via the Female Endurance Athlete (FENDURA) project (Project-ID: 19_FENDURA_BW).
Organisation Unit: School of Health
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991153836602621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Sport Sciences