Objectives: To investigate prescribing preferences and personal experience of female gynaecologists with extended-cycle use of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) in Germany and Austria.
Methods: A questionnaire on prescribing patterns and personal experience with extended COC regimens was delivered to female gynaecologists practising in Germany and Austria.
Results: Of 2,500 delivered questionnaires, 1,113 were returned. After exclusion of 22 invalid questionnaires, the remaining 1,091 (43.6% of delivered questionnaires) remained eligible for analysis and were considered as the full analysis set (100%). Nearly all gynaecologists (97%) reported prescription of extended-cycle regimens to their patients, independent of their personal experience as users. The main medical reasons for prescription were cycle-related headache (93.8%), dysmenorrhoea (88.2%), cycle-related complaints (74.5%), and hypermenorrhoea (70.9%). In total, 863 gynaecologists had personally used COCs, 321 (37.2%) in extended-cycle regimen. The most commonly employed combinations were 30 μg ethinylestradiol (EE) + 2 mg dienogest (n = 114; 37.5%) and 30 μg EE + 3 mg drospirenone (n = 69; 22.7%).
Conclusions: Although considered off-label use, extended-cycle use of COCs is widely prescribed and personally used by German and Austrian female gynaecologists. The lack of personal experience with extended-cycle use does not impair the prescribing habit of gynaecologists with regard to extended-cycle regimens.