Seifu, Daniel (PhD)Fekadie, Muluken2018-06-242023-11-292018-06-242023-11-292015-11http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/2993Back ground: Depo-medroxyprogesterone Acetate (DMPA) is a long acting, injectable progesterone derivative contraceptive which is currently used by more than 90 million women worldwide, including Ethiopia. This contraceptive is suggested to induce changes in lipid profile, body weight and blood pressure among various populations and ethnic group with different patterns, similar to those associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Objective: To investigate the effects of use of DMPA on lipid profile, body weight and blood pressure of women attending family planning unit in Tekele Hymanot and Lomeda Health Centers, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study design was followed on 50 healthy women who had been using DMPA attending the family planning unit and another 50 age-matched healthy controls who were not using any hormonal contraceptives, attending the family planning and other unit in Health Centers between 14 February, 2015 and 13 March, 2015. Fasting blood samples were collected from the study participants for the estimation of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels, and the weight and blood pressure were measured during their visit. The data obtained was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21 software packages. During analysis descriptive statistics of variables was done. Student’s independent t-test, student’s paired t-test, Pearson’s correlation-test and one-way ANOVA analysis of variance were used to evaluate the presence of mean difference, correlation between variables and relationship between changes in variables and duration of use of DMPA. Results: Serum TC and LDL-c levels in DMPA users were significantly increased compared to controls (P=.003 and P =.001, respectively), on the other hand, serum HDL-c level in DMPA users was significantly decreased (P =.001) compared to controls. Serum TG level in DMPA users was higher than control group, however, the difference was not statistically significant (P=.24). The mean weight and body mass index (BMI) of DMPA users were increased significantly (P =.02 and P =.019, respectively). There were no significant difference in mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) of DMPA users compared to controls or compared to their respective pretreatment value (P=.85, P=.67, respectively). Changes in variables of DMPA users were independent (P>.05) to the duration of use of DMPA (6-24, 27-48 and 51-96 months). Conclusions: Use of DMPA induces marked changes in lipid metabolism which included development of high serum TC, LDL-c, TC to HDL-c and LDL-c to HDL-c ratio levels and a marked decrease in serum HDL-c level compared to controls. DMPA users showed weight gain and an increased BMI. All these changes appeared to be independent to the duration of use of DMPA. But, DMPA use didn’t exert significant change in MAP of users. Key words: DMPA, lipid profiles, weight gain, body mass index, blood pressureenDMPA; Lipid profiles; weight gain; Body mass index; Blood pressureThesis