SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2024
The Effect of Hormonal Contraceptive Use on Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy, Power and Strength Adaptations to Resistance Exercise Training: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond birth control: how oral contraceptives impact skeletal muscle health: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2026Pooled it
- Varying Influence of Menstrual Cycle Phase and Hormonal Contraceptive Use on Resistance Exercise-Induced Circulating Extracellular Vesicle and Metabolite Signalling.Journal of extracellular vesicles · 2026Trial
- Muscle architectural and performance adaptations following an 8-week sprint-focused training intervention.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Monitoring Menstrual Health in Footballers: Considerations for Tracking Menstrual and Hormonal Contraceptive Cycles in the Field to Support Performance.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Pharmacological topics of interest for young people: misinformation on TikTok is common.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Menopause, Female Sex Hormones, Skeletal Muscle Mass and Muscle Protein Turnover in Humans.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Review
- Pelvic floor, hormones, and performance: trying to fill in the gap.Gynecology and pelvic medicine · 2026Article
- Assessment of Quadriceps Muscle Strength and Thickness in Adolescents with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Case-control and Longitudinal Follow-up StudyJournal of clinical research in pediatric endocrinology · 2025Article
- Mechanisms of the biological response cascade to exercise-induced stress: a comprehensive review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Review
- Physical activity and diet pattern do not mitigate C-reactive protein increases associated with oral contraceptive use.PloS one · 2025Article
- Hormonal Influences on Skeletal Muscle Function in Women across Life Stages: A Systematic Review.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundResistance exercise training is widely used by general and athletic populations to increase skeletal muscle hypertrophy, power and strength. Endogenous sex hormones influence various bodily functions, including possibly exercise performance, and may influence adaptive changes in response to exercise training. Hormonal contraceptive (HC) use modulates the profile of endogenous sex hormones, and therefore, there is increasing interest in the impact, if any, of HC use on adaptive responses to resistance exercise training.
objectiveOur aim is to provide a quantitative synthesis of the effect of HC use on skeletal muscle hypertrophy, power and strength adaptations in response to resistance exercise training.
methodsA systematic review with meta-analysis was conducted on experimental studies which directly compared skeletal muscle hypertrophy, power and strength adaptations following resistance exercise training in hormonal contraceptive users and non-users conducted before July 2023. The search using the online databases PUBMED, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Embase and other supplementary search strategies yielded 4669 articles, with 8 articles (54 effects and 325 participants) meeting the inclusion criteria. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the "Tool for the assessment of study quality and reporting in exercise".
resultsAll included studies investigated the influence of oral contraceptive pills (OCP), with no study including participants using other forms of HC. The articles were analysed using a meta-analytic multilevel maximum likelihood estimator model. The results indicate that OCP use does not have a significant effect on hypertrophy [0.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) [- 0.11, 0.13], t = 0.14, p = 0.90), power (- 0.04, 95% CI [- 0.93, 0.84], t = - 0.29, p = 0.80) or strength (0.10, 95% CI [- 0.08, 0.28], t = 1.48, p = 0.20). DISCUSSION: Based on the present analysis, there is no evidence-based rationale to advocate for or against the use of OCPs in females partaking in resistance exercise training to increase hypertrophy, power and/or strength. Rather, an individualised approach considering an individual's response to OCPs, their reasons for use and menstrual cycle history may be more appropriate. REGISTRATION: The review protocol was registered on PROSPERO (ID number and hyperlink: CRD42022365677).
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.