ArticleActa neuropsychiatrica2026
Differences in verbal memory, visuospatial ability and cognitive inhibition among young women using drospirenone and ethinyl oestradiol oral contraceptives versus naturally cycling controls.
Article in Acta neuropsychiatrica, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to investigate the differences on cognitive performance across four cognitive domains – verbal memory, language fluency, visuospatial ability and cognitive inhibition – between drospirenone and ethinyl oestradiol (DRSP/EE) users and naturally cycling women in the luteal phase (LP). The goal was to determine whether hormonal suppression associated with DRSP/EE use is linked to domain-specific cognitive alterations.
methodsA total of 48 young adult women were assessed: 23 using DRSP/EE (with pharmacologically suppressed endogenous hormonal levels) and 25 naturally cycling during the LP. Participants completed standardised neuropsychological tasks measuring verbal memory, language fluency, visuospatial ability and cognitive inhibition. Group comparisons analyses were conducted.
resultsSignificant group differences were observed in verbal memory, visuospatial ability and cognitive inhibition, while no significant group differences were found in language fluency. Women using DRSP/EE showed significantly lower performance in verbal memory (
conclusionThe present findings suggest that the use of DRSP/EE oral contraceptives is associated with differences across specific cognitive domains compared to naturally cycling women in the LP. The observed pattern – lower performance in hippocampus-related domains (verbal memory and visuospatial ability) paired with higher performance on a frontal-lobe-dependent task (cognitive inhibition) – is consistent with existing evidence suggesting that suppression of endogenous ovarian hormones may differentially influence cognitive functions. These behavioural associations underscore the need for further domain-specific research into the long-term cognitive implications of combined oral contraceptives.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion 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 OpenQuestion graph.