--- title: How do pandemic stress and sleep problems affect menstrual cycles and PMS? description: During lockdown, changes in sleep affected when menstrual cycles started in all women studied. High stress combined with poor sleep was linked to menstrual ir url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/effect-of-perceived-pandemic-stress-and-sleep-variation-on-menstrual-cycle-2020/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - How do pandemic stress and sleep problems affect menstrual cycles and PMS? Survey study, 2020 # How do pandemic stress and sleep problems affect menstrual cycles and PMS? During lockdown, changes in sleep affected when menstrual cycles started in all women studied. High stress combined with poor sleep was linked to menstrual irregularity and worse PMS. Early or limited evidence 59 women during pandemic lockdown ## What they did 59 women were surveyed during pandemic lockdown about their stress levels, sleep changes, and menstrual and premenstrual symptoms. ## What they found Sleep variation affected menstrual cycle timing in all 59 women, causing cycles to start earlier or later. Sleep delay and high stress were directly linked to menstrual cycle changes and PMS. Frustration increased with irritation, and combined frustration and sleep problems affected cycles and PMS severity. ## What it means for you Sleep disruption and stress during the pandemic were linked to menstrual irregularity and worse PMS. The main limit is that this was a small study during a specific crisis, so results may not apply to other times or larger groups. 59 women in study 59 affected by sleep changes on menstrual cycle ## About the study Original title Effect of Perceived Pandemic Stress and Sleep Variation on Menstrual Cycle Occurrence, its Severity and Premenstrual Syndrome: A Cross Sectional Study Authors Abhishek Dhawan, Jeeja Hernole Journal Journal of Women s Health and Development Year 2020 Study design Survey study Participants 59 Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.26502/fjwhd.2644-28840052](https://doi.org/10.26502/fjwhd.2644-28840052) Original abstract Background: Global health crisis, the 2020 pandemic situation has affected the lives of human beings on the physical and mental front. Women and their menstrual and endocrinological health has been severely affected due to imposed pandemic stress. This study attempted to evaluate this effect on women (n=59) during the lockdown and correlate their imposed stress, changed work and sleep pattern on their reproductive health. Result: The study directs that variation in sleep affected the onset of menstrual cycles in all (n=59) women in terms of early or delay occurrence, where sleep delay and elevated stress are directly proportional to the variation in menstrual cycle experience and PMS. Frustration in women increased with the degree of irritation; moreover, the combined effect of frustration levels and sleep variation was observed on menstrual cycles and PMS. Conclusion: From the study we can find a direct correlation between variation in sleep time in terms of delay and elevated frustration during lockdown directly affected irregularity of menstrual cycle onset and had prevalent effect on severity of premenstrual syndrome which is indicative of adverse effect of pandemic on women health. Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Sleep and insomnia](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-sleep/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Survey study, 2024 Did COVID-19 stress cause changes in menstrual cycles? Survey study, 2023 What factors make premenstrual syndrome worse in nursing students? Survey study, 2022 What factors are associated with irregular menstrual cycles and how do irregular cycles affect other symptoms? Study, 2012 Does stress affect your body differently during your luteal phase? Review, 1994 Which hormones change across the menstrual cycle? Randomised trial, 1994 How does light therapy affect hormone levels in women with PMDD? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗