Utility of Blood Cell Count Ratios as Biomarkers of Venous Thromboembolism Among Women on Oral Contraceptives

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Oral contraceptives are considered reliable and safe, but there are concerns lately on the risk of venous thromboembolic complications. There is need for affordable, efficient and easy to obtain biomarkers that could be used in routine monitoring of users. The study thus considered the utility of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios in assessing women on oral contraceptives for venous thromboembolic complications within the study locality. Methods: This study was conducted at the Family Planning Unit of University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria. The blood cell counts were carried out by automation using SMART-1 Haematology Analyzer. Statistical analysis of data was done using SPSS version 22.0. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered to infer a statistically significant difference. Results: The study recorded a significantly higher (p= 0.006) value of absolute lymphocyte count among women on oral contraceptives compared to non-users. Absolute neutrophil count was significantly higher (p= 0.001), while absolute lymphocyte count was seen to be significantly lower (p= 0.001) among subjects on combined therapy. The study also observed significantly higher (p= 0.001) neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios among those who had been using combined therapy compared to those on monotherapy. Conclusion: The present study showed increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio among the study participants who were on progesterone/ estrogen combined therapy.