Benzalkonium chloride cream reliable spermicide in older women

For women over 40, benzalkonium chloride spermicide cream is a reliable, acceptable method of birth control, says an article published in Journal of Gynecology Obstetrics and Human Reproduction.

The Unstudied category of women seeking contraception is midlife women. Comorbidities (including hypertension, diabetes, and obesity) are rising while their fertility is dropping. Spermicides are a barrier approach that have a number of benefits, including no reported contraindications, no systemic effects, full control by the woman user, ready availability without a prescription, and reasonable cost. In order to ascertain the effectiveness and tolerability of a spermicide containing benzalkonium chloride as a contraceptive among women aged 40 and above, David Serfaty and colleagues undertook this multicenter prospective trial (BZK40+).

Ten French study centers and six Russian study centers participated in the 12-month study. The 1.2% benzalkonium chloride spermicide cream (Pharmatex®), as directed by the manufacturer, was administered to the 151 women who had signed up for the study. The main result was the spermicide's effectiveness as a contraceptive as measured by the Pearl Index, or the number of unplanned births per 100 women-years of exposure, a metric that accurately reflects spermicide efficacy in the actual world. Monthly pregnancy tests were administered to the participants.

The key findings of this study were:

1. The participants' average age was 45.9 years. Their typical number of sexual intercourses each month varied from 3 to 5.

2. In 96.3% of the roughly 6,000 sexual encounters, the spermicide was used. The Pearl Index was 0 (confidence interval, 0-2.88) pregnancies.

3. Vulvovaginal pain (n=3) and vulvovaginal pruritus (n=8) were among the adverse events.

4. No significant adverse events were reported, and none of them resulted in treatment stopping. 99.3% of participants indicated they were at least somewhat happy with the spermicide, which is a very high percentage.

5. In 98.6% of the reported encounters, its usability was deemed satisfactory.

Reference:

Serfaty, D., Prilepskaya, V., Graesslin, O., Benifla, J.-L., Aubin, F., Verriere, F., Mas, Y., Escola, J., Coatantiec, E., & Carrois, F. (2023). Efficacy, safety and acceptability of a benzalkonium chloride spermicide cream in women aged 40 years and over needing contraception: A prospective multicentre study. In Journal of Gynecology Obstetrics and Human Reproduction (Vol. 52, Issue 7, p. 102616). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogoh.2023.102616