Smoking and oral contraceptive continuation.

Abstract Background Smoking may be related to early discontinuation of oral contraceptives (OC). Study design This was a planned secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial. Women aged less than 25 initiating OC at three inner-city publicly funded family planning clinics enrolled in the study. Subjects reported smoking status at enrollment; 3- and 6-month interviews assessed OC continuation. Results One hundred eighty-nine (12%) of 1598 participants were current smokers. Smokers were more often lost to follow-up than nonsmokers ( P P Conclusions These data suggest that young smokers may be more likely to discontinue OC within 6 months than nonsmokers. Smoking may be a marker for risk-taking behavior that extends to the premature discontinuation of OC.