Case-control study, 2025
Do women with eating disorders experience more menstrual distress, and does birth control help?
Yes, women with eating disorders reported significantly more menstrual distress than healthy women across all symptoms measured. Birth control reduced distress only in those with milder eating disorder symptoms, not in those with more severe symptoms.
What they did
Compared 132 women with eating disorders to 105 healthy women. Participants completed questionnaires measuring menstrual distress, premenstrual symptoms, and eating disorder and general psychological symptoms.
What they found
Women with eating disorders scored higher on all menstrual distress measures compared to controls. About 65% of distress was specific to the menstrual phase in both groups. Symptoms like muscle pain, breast tenderness, swelling, headache, constipation, feeling impure, impulsiveness, anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue were particularly distressing. Higher menstrual distress correlated with more severe eating disorder symptoms. Hormonal contraceptive use predicted reduced distress in women with low eating disorder symptoms but not in those with high eating disorder symptoms.
What it means for you
Eating disorders and menstrual distress are closely linked. Birth control may help some women but not those with severe eating disorder psychopathology. This suggests the psychological aspects of the eating disorder may be more important than hormone treatment in this group.
132
women with eating disorders
105
healthy women
65%
distress specific to menstrual phase
About the study
- Original title
- Menstrual distress in women with eating disorders: insights from the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MEDI-Q)
- Authors
- Rossi E, Cassioli E, Cordasco VZ et al.
- Journal
- Archives of women's mental health
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Case-control study
- Participants
- 132
- What was tested
- Hormonal contraceptive use
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s00737-024-01542-1
Topics
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