---
title: Do oral contraceptives help reduce premenstrual symptoms? | Niyora
description: Yes. Birth control pills reduced premenstrual tension symptoms in most age groups, except in 18-year-olds where they showed little or no benefit.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/premenstrual-complaints-ii-influence-of-oral-contraceptives-1981/
---

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- Do oral contraceptives help reduce premenstrual symptoms?

Randomised trial, 1981

# Do oral contraceptives help reduce premenstrual symptoms?

Yes. Birth control pills reduced premenstrual tension symptoms in most age groups, except in 18-year-olds where they showed little or no benefit.

 Strong study design

217 women taking oral contraceptives and 595 women not using the pill, randomly selected

## What they did

A study comparing 217 women taking oral contraceptives with 595 women not using the pill, examining the prevalence and severity of individual premenstrual symptoms across different ages.

## What they found

Oral contraceptives had a beneficial effect on premenstrual tension symptoms in all age groups except 18-year-olds, where the tendency was rather the opposite. Women using oral contraceptives were significantly less frequently absent from work.

## What it means for you

Birth control pills may reduce most women's premenstrual symptoms but may not help or may slightly worsen symptoms in younger women aged 18. The study measured prevalence rather than randomly assigning women to pills or no pills, so cause and effect are unclear.

595

women not using oral contraceptives

217

women taking oral contraceptives

## About the study

Original title Premenstrual complaints II. Influence of oral contraceptives Authors Andersch B, Hahn L Journal Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica Year 1981 Study design Randomised trial Participants 595 What was tested Oral contraceptives compared to no pill Read the paper [doi.org/10.3109/00016348109155490](https://doi.org/10.3109/00016348109155490)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Oral contraceptives and drospirenone](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-hormonal-contraceptives/)

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