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Survey study, 2022

Is stress during menstruation related to menstrual cycle regularity?

There is a weak negative relationship between stress during menstruation and menstrual cycle length, meaning higher stress is slightly associated with shorter cycles.

Early or limited evidence 99 medical students.

What they did

99 medical students answered questionnaires about their stress levels during menstruation and characteristics of their menstrual cycle.

What they found

79.8% of students had regular menstrual cycles and 7.1% had abnormal cycles. For stress levels: 28.3% had normal stress, 21.2% had mild stress, 21.2% had moderate stress, 16.2% had severe stress, and 13.1% had very heavy stress during menstruation. A weak negative relationship was found between stress levels and how long the menstrual cycle is.

What it means for you

There may be a small link between menstrual stress and cycle length, with higher stress slightly associated with shorter cycles. However, this is a small study of medical students only and does not show whether stress causes cycle changes or cycle changes cause stress.

99

medical students surveyed

79.8%

had regular menstrual cycles

weak negative

relationship between stress and cycle length

About the study

Original title
Relationship between Menstrual Stress Levels and Menstrual Cycle in Medical Students
Authors
Frisca Ronauli Batubara, Gelora Lisbet Aprina Sirait, Luana N. Achmad
Journal
Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics
Year
2022
Study design
Survey study
Participants
99
What was tested
None (survey of experiences).
Open access
Yes

Topics