Female athletes’ decisions to use hormonal contraceptives: a scoping review protocol.
Date
2024
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Abstract
Female athletes from a variety of sports indicate a perceived impact of the menstrual cycle (MC) on their performance (Brown et al., 2021; Ekenros et al., 2022; Findlay et al., 2020). Female athletes often choose to use hormonal contraceptives (HC’s) and although their reasons vary, the most consistent one is related to the impact of the MC on performance and training. For example, in a study by Martin et al., (2018) a third of 145 combined oral contraceptive athlete users perceived that cycle manipulation to avoid menstruation can be considered a positive outcome of oral contraceptive use. Therefore, the objective of this scoping review is to investigate the extent of evidence associated with the reasons behind female athletes’ decision to use or discontinue use of hormonal contraceptives. The inclusion criteria included a) female (sex assigned at birth), b) athletes actively participating in competition, of which the majority are competing at least a regional level (Swann et al., 2015), c) sample is mostly age 18 years or older, d) discusses knowledge, reasons, perceptions, attitudes, beliefs of the athletes as related to their decisions regarding HC use and e) discusses history of hormonal contraceptive use either current or previous as an athlete. The JBI guidelines for scoping reviews found in the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis (2020) will be followed and this review will be reported in accordance with the PRISMA –SCr extension (Peters et al., 2020; Tricco et al., 2018).
Description
Scoping review protocol for scoping review investigating female athletes' decisions to use hormonal contraceptives
Keywords
Hormonal contraceptives, athletes, prevalence, menstrual cycle