Long-Term Oral Contraceptive Use Linked to Retinal Thinning

OCT imaging reveals thinner retinal layers in long-term oral contraceptive users, suggesting hormonal impact on ocular structures. Photo: Sprintec. Click image to enlarge. Oral contraceptives, considered one of the most significant medical advances of the 20th century, are used by approximately 16% of women aged 15 to 49 worldwide. These oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) typically contain the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which research has found can influence ocular tissues, including the retina and choroid. This led a group of researchers from the United Kingdom to explore the connection between OCP use and morphological changes in these areas of the eye, the results of which were presented this past Sunday at ARVO. According to their abstract, the authors say there was an association between OCP use and retinal thickness. UK Biobank data was collected from 2,474 pre- and post-menopausal female participants with a mean age of 45 years. Of those, 2,278 (3,692 eyes) were non-OCP users, and 196 (318 eyes) were OCP users with a median OCP use duration of 26 years. Participants with systemic conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, glaucoma, cataract and macular disease were excluded. Researchers collected OCT measurements of total retinal thickness, inner retinal thickness (IRT) and outer retinal thickness (ORT). After adjusting for confounding factors, total retinal thickness was found to be lower in the OCP group (-8.14μm), compared to the non-pill group. Researchers observed a significant reduction in ORT in the OCP user group (-6.49μm), while IRT showed no significant difference between the two groups. Those who used OCP longer than the median showed the most significant loss of total retinal thickness (-9.05μm), but the difference was no longer statistically significant for ORT.The researchers concluded in their abstract that the findings “suggest that OCP use may influence retinal thickness, warranting further investigation to understand the clinical significance and potential implications for women’s ocular health.”Original abstract content ©2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. Oster A, et al. Oral contraceptive pill use and retinal layer thickness in pre-menopausal women in UK Biobank. ARVO 2025 annual meeting.