SynthesisClinical endocrinology2023
Combined oral contraceptive pill compared with no medical treatment in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome: A systematic review.
Synthesis in Clinical endocrinology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metformin and Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills in the Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2024Pooled it
- Combined oral contraceptive pill compared with no medical treatment in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome: A systematic review.Clinical endocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- Organokines and liver enzymes in adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome during randomized treatments.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Trial
- The central role of hyperandrogenism in driving metabolic dysfunction in polycystic ovary syndrome: from pathophysiological mechanisms to targeted therapies.Journal of ovarian research · 2026Review
- Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills Versus Progestin-Only Pills for Heavy Menstrual Bleeding: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- A detailed review of pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of progestogens in oral contraception.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- The Role of Pharmacists in Identifying and Preventing Drug-Related Problems in PCOS Management.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- What do users in a polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) forum think about the treatments they tried: Analysing treatment sentiment using machine learning.Physical and engineering sciences in medicine · 2025Article
- Investigating the effects of rosmarinic acid on ovarian tissue, inflammatory markers, and sex hormones in polycystic ovary syndrome rats.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- International evidence-based recommendations for polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescents.BMC medicine · 2025Review
- Amelioration of polycystic ovarian morphology by Tokishakuyakusan in a PCOS rat model: association with bone morphogenetic protein 4.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Management of women with hirsutism in Kosovo.Postepy dermatologii i alergologii · 2025Article
- Beyond Hormones: A Systematic Review of the Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.Cureus · 2024Review
- Pharmacological management of polycystic ovary syndrome.Australian prescriber · 2024Review
- International evidence-based guideline on assessment and management of PCOS-A Nordic perspective.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Efficacy and safety of anti-androgens in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAs part of the update of the International Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Assessment and Management of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a systematic review was performed to inform evidence-based recommendations.
designSystematic review. Only randomised controlled trial were included. PATIENTS: Women with PCOS; the use of combined oral contraceptive pills (COCP) was compared with no medical treatment. MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes were designed in collaboration with clinical experts, researchers, and consumers. Critical outcomes included hirsutism, irregular cycles, quality of life, body mass index (BMI), and weight.
results1660 publications were identified, but only four studies were included. No studies could be combined for meta-analysis. COCP treatment improved cycle regularity compared with no medical treatment (100% vs. 0%, with low certainty of evidence). COCP showed no difference in improvement of hirsutism or BMI compared with placebo or lifestyle; a lower weight after COCP compared with no treatment (mean difference [MD] -8.0 (95% confidence interval, CI -11.67); -4.33 kg); and improvement in quality of life (MD 1.2 [95% CI 0.96]; 1.44), but these results were all very low certainty of evidence.
conclusionResults show that COCP benefit cycle regulation, but other benefits or potential adverse effects were only identified with very low certainty of evidence. The COCP is frontline medical treatment in PCOS, but this is still based on established efficacy in the broader general population. Our results show that research in PCOS is seriously lacking and should be prioritised to capture core reproductive, metabolic and psychological outcomes important in PCOS.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.