Prevalence of Contraceptive Effects on Iranian Women Pilgrims to Holy Places in 2019

The use of birth control pills, either arbitrarily and as prescribed by a doctor, to delay menstruation, has become very common in pilgrims on pilgrimages to the holy shrines in the past few years. On the other hand, few studies have been conducted to identify the prevalence and type of side effects of these pills. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalent side effects of these drugs on Iranian women pilgrims to holy places in 2019.

This is a cross-sectional study. In this study, 123 women Tamattu’ Hajj pilgrims and pilgrims of the holy shrines in 2019, who met the desired conditions, were selected based on purpose. The data collection instrument was a two-part researcher-made questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire was completed in the last days of the Hajj pilgrimage in the holy land of Arafat when the pilgrims referred to their tents and also in the last days of the pilgrimage to the holy shrines in interviews with the qualified people. The second part of the questionnaire collected the necessary information one month after returning from the Hajj and pilgrimage of the holy shrines. In this study, all the ethical considerations were observed and the authors declared no conflict of interest

The results of the test for the frequency of drug side effects showed that spotting, bleeding, nausea and dizziness, anxiety and depression and irritability, chest pain and shortness of breath and lower extremity problems such as swelling, unilateral leg edema and leg pain were the most important complications. They were taking drugs and McNemar nonparametric test analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the occurrence of some complications during and after the trip (P<0.05).

Due to the side effects associated with taking the pills during and after the trip, pilgrims are recommended to use the least number of pills to create fewer side effects, and it is even better to start taking the pill just a few days before the expected time of menstruation.