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No decrease in perseverance and performance on cognitive tasks in Danish cohort of hormonal contraceptive users

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2023

Maria Nissen Byg Open the ORCID record for Maria Nissen Byg [Opens in a new window] ,
Andrea Dioni Open the ORCID record for Andrea Dioni [Opens in a new window]  and
Michael Winterdahl Open the ORCID record for Michael Winterdahl [Opens in a new window]
Maria Nissen Byg
Affiliation:
Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Andrea Dioni
Affiliation:
Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Michael Winterdahl*
Affiliation:
Translational Neuropsychiatry Unit, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
*
Author for correspondence: Michael Winterdahl, Email: michael.winterdahl@clin.au.dk
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Abstract

Cognitive consequences of hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are largely underexplored, despite the popularity of use. This study investigates the association between perseverance during cognitively challenging tasks and the use of HCs among Danish women. We hypothesised that women using HCs show decreased perseverance across tasks compared to their naturally cycling counterparts. We further hypothesised that HC using women would show decreased performance as a measure of accuracy (i.e. more incorrect answers) compared to naturally cycling women. The study used a cross-sectional repeated measures design, consisting of a Danish version of the Anagram Persistence Task and the Hagen Matrices Test, followed by an extensive survey documenting menstrual and HC history for each participant. The study was conducted online. Data processing was conducted on data from 129 participants. The former hypothesis was analysed through multilevel regression with a nested random effects structure on log-transformed data. The latter hypothesis was analysed through a multilevel generalised linear model with a nested random effects structure using the binomial family. No support was found for either of the hypotheses.

Keywords

hormonal contraceptionAnagram Persistence TaskHagen Matrices Testperseveranceoral contraceptives
Type
Original Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , August 2023 , pp. 226 - 231
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology

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Footnotes

Maria Nissen Byg and Andrea Dioni shared first authorship.

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