STUDY DESIGN: A multicenter case-control study was performed. Women without signs of pelvic inflammatory disease were ascertained through contact tracing of partners with sexually transmitted diseases or through presentation with cervicitis. Women with symptomatic pelvic inflammatory disease met a set of standard clinical criteria. We compared the 43 cases without signs of pelvic inflammatory disease but with endometritis (“unrecognized endometritis”) with the 111 controls with recognized pelvic inflammatory disease and endometritis (“recognized endometritis”).
RESULTS: Women with unrecognized endometritis were 4.3 times (95 % confidence interval 1.6 to 11.7) more likely than women with recognized endometritis to use oral contraceptives.
CONCLUSION: Future studies need to fully characterize the risks and benefits of oral contraceptives in relation to sexually transmitted diseases.(Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997;176:580-5.)