ArticleFrontiers in global women's health2023
Hormonal contraception and risk for cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in young women: a scoping review of the evidence.
Article in Frontiers in global women's health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reproductive life stages and cognitive outcomes: a systematic review in Latin American and Caribbean women.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Women's reproductive factors predict local brain aging profiles mapped using deep neural networks.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Cardiovascular contributions to dementia: Examining sex differences and female-specific factors.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Leveraging research into sex differences and steroid hormones to improve brain health.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2025Review
- Understanding Deep Endometriosis: From Molecular to Neuropsychiatry Dimension.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Beyond Birth Control: The Neuroscience of Hormonal Contraceptives.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Review
- Hormone replacement therapy, menopausal age and lifestyle variables are associated with better cognitive performance at follow-up but not cognition over time in older-adult women irrespective of APOE4 carrier status and co-morbidities.Frontiers in dementia · 2024Article
- Endocrine Dyscrasia in the Etiology and Therapy of Alzheimer's Disease.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2024Review
- Hormonal contraception and risk for cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in young women: a scoping review of the evidence.Frontiers in global women's health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Introduction: Women are significantly more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) than men. Suggestions to explain the sex differences in dementia incidence have included the influence of sex hormones with little attention paid to date as to the effect of hormonal contraception on brain health. The aim of this scoping review is to evaluate the current evidence base for associations between hormonal contraceptive use by women and non-binary people in early adulthood and brain health outcomes. Methods: A literature search was conducted using EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar, using the keywords "hormonal contraception" OR "contraception" OR "contraceptive" AND "Alzheimer*" OR "Brain Health" OR "Dementia". Results: Eleven papers were identified for inclusion in the narrative synthesis. Studies recruited participants from the UK, USA, China, South Korea and Indonesia. Studies included data from women who were post-menopausal with retrospective data collection, with only one study contemporaneously collecting data from participants during the period of hormonal contraceptive use. Studies reported associations between hormonal contraceptive use and a lower risk of ADRD, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD), better cognition and larger grey matter volume. Some studies reported stronger associations with longer duration of hormonal contraceptive use, however, results were inconsistent. Four studies reported no significant associations between hormonal contraceptive use and measures of brain health, including brain age on MRI scans and risk of AD diagnosis. Discussion: Further research is needed on young adults taking hormonal contraceptives, on different types of hormonal contraceptives (other than oral) and to explore intersections between sex, gender, race and ethnicity. Systematic Review Registration: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/MVX63, identifier: OSF.io: 10.17605/OSF.IO/MVX63.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.