Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct;24(5):368-372.
doi: 10.1080/13625187.2019.1643836. Epub 2019 Jul 23.

Do menstrual cups increase risk of IUD expulsion? A survey of self-reported IUD and menstrual hygiene product use in the United States

Ariela N Schnyer  1 , Jeffrey T Jensen  1 , Alison Edelman  1 , Leo Han  1
Affiliations

Do menstrual cups increase risk of IUD expulsion? A survey of self-reported IUD and menstrual hygiene product use in the United States

Ariela N Schnyer et al. Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: To gather preliminary data about menstrual hygiene product use and associated risk of intrauterine device (IUD) expulsion. Materials and methods: We conducted an Internet-based survey using the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform and Researchmatch.org. Eligible participants were women at least 18 years old and self-identified as current or previous IUD users. Results: Of 902 survey responses, 71% reported current or previous IUD use and 19.7% reported menstrual cup use. IUD users were significantly more likely than non-IUD users to use a menstrual cup or tampons. Among all IUD users, 56 individuals reported experiencing at least one expulsion (8.8%). We found a positive association between concurrent menstrual cup use and IUD expulsion (OR: 2.75, 95% CI: 1.40-5.42, p = .002), but no association with concurrent tampon or pad use. Of concurrent IUD and cup users who experienced an expulsion, one reported it occurring 'while using a menstrual cup', with others reporting the expulsion during other events. Conclusions: Menstrual cup use may be higher than previously reported, particularly in IUD users. Concurrent menstrual cup use may increase the risk of IUD expulsion. Prospective research is necessary to fully explore the relationship between menstrual hygiene product use and IUD expulsions.

Keywords: Contraception; IUD expulsion; intrauterine device; menstrual cup; menstrual hygiene.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

LinkOut - more resources