New Study 'Busts The Myth' That Contraceptives Decrease Libido

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The contraceptive pill is indisputably the most popular means of contraception among women of reproductive age. However, a recent study has examined its effects on female sexual desire.

In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that 62 percent of women of reproductive age were using a means of contraception and 28 percent or 10.6 million of these women in the United States were using the pill, thus making it the most popular method of contraception, according to MNT.

Despite the common belief that contraceptive pills decrease female libido, it is not conclusive as the evidence supporting this has been mixed. A comprehensive review of existing research shows that the effects of hormonal contraceptives on the female libido are somewhat conflicting and not properly studied, with just a small percentage of women reporting either an increase or a decrease in their libido.

Based on this, researchers from the University of Kentucky and Indiana University conducted a study to examine the impact of oral hormonal contraceptive use on female sexual desire.

They pointed out that previous researches has been inconsistent with regards to the methodology used, as some of these studies did not differentiate between the types of contraceptives and others did not use non-hormonal comparison groups.

The researchers also noted that some previous studies did not account for the relationship context relating to contraceptive use and the sexual behavior of partners.

They carried out two separate studies which investigated the impact of the different kinds of contraceptives on a woman's sexual. The studies also examined sexual desire in the men who were partnered with women that use contraceptives.

The first study checked the effects of contraceptive use on heterosexual partners in relationships of different lengths, while the second investigated this impact on long-term relationships.

The researchers Used Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI) to examined two kinds of sexual desire: solitary and dyadic, which describes the desire a woman has on her own and with a partner, respectively.

The SDI is a 14-item questionnaire created to measure sexual desire in cognitive terms, unlike other measurement tools that use behavioral methods. The study's lead researcher Dr. Kristen Mark and colleagues grouped the types of contraceptive into three categories, namely, oral hormonal, other hormonal and non-hormonal.

They examined the sexual desire in more than 900 women and discovered that the type of contraceptive used significantly affected solitary and dyadic sexual desire.

Women who use non-hormonal contraceptives reported a higher solitary libido than women on hormonal contraceptives and women using oral hormonal contraceptives had a higher levels of dyadic sexual desire than women on non-hormonal contraceptives.

The libido of the male partners was not affected by the type of contraceptive their partners used. This shows that contextual factors have more impact on sexual desire than the type of contraceptive used. Sexual desire was strongly predicted by the length and age of the relationship rather than by the type of contraceptive a woman uses, according to New York News.

Also, when examining couples, researchers saw no correlation between contraceptive type and solitary or dyadic sexual desire in men and women.

Mark emphasizes the need to "bust the myth" that contraceptive pills can reduce sexual desire in women. She said Sometimes women are looking for something to explain changes in their sexual desire, which is not fixed throughout their life.

The message that hormonal pills reduces libido is really prevalent. This research helps to bust those myths and hopefully eventually get rid of this common cultural script in our society, she added

The lead researcher also insists that contextual factors are far stronger predictors of sexual desire than the type of contraceptive used. The researchers published their findings in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.