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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Int J Sports Med 2024; 45(07): 543-548
DOI: 10.1055/a-2278-3253
Clinical Sciences

Association between Physical Activity and Menstrual Cycle Disorders in Young Athletes

Paolo Passoni
1   UO Gynecology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
,
Alessandra Inzoli 
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
,
Elena De Ponti
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
3   Department of Physical Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
,
Serena Polizzi
1   UO Gynecology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
,
Anna Ceccherelli
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
,
Martina Fantauzzi 
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
,
Chiara Procaccianti
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
,
Alessandro Cattoni
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
4   Pediatrics, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
,
Silvia Villa
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
,
Anna Riva
5   Child and Adolescent Mental Health Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
,
Stefano Righetti
6   Interventional Cardiology Department, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
,
Fabio Landoni
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
1   UO Gynecology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
,
Robert Fruscio
2   Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan-Bicocca, Milano, Italy
1   UO Gynecology, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy
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Abstract

Our study aims to evaluate clinical predictors of menstrual cycle disorders in female athletes who compete in running disciplines. This is a prospective observational study. Women were recruited between January and May 2022. Fifty-three patients were enrolled and completed a questionnaire about menstrual cycle, physical activity, and food habit characteristics. Of the women in our population, 39.6% had menstrual irregularities and reported a significantly higher number of kilometers run per week (67 vs. 35, p:0.02). The number of kilometers run per week was associated with menstrual irregularities (for 10 km, OR 1.35; IC95% 1.05–1.73; p: 0.02) after adjusting for BMI, age, level of sport and caloric intake. The variable of “km run per week” appeared as a diagnostic indicator of irregular menstrual cycle with statistical significance (AUC ROC curve 0.71, IC95% 0.54–0.86, p-value=0.01) and the cut-off of 65 km run per week is a good indicator of the presence of irregular menstrual cycle (sensitivity (SE) and specificity (SP) of 55% and 81.48%). Menstrual cycle disorders are very frequent in female athletes, and the variable of km run per week may play a role in screening endurance athletes at high risk for these disorders.

Keywords

menstrual cycle - reproductive health - exercise - sports


Publication History

Received: 28 November 2023

Accepted: 17 January 2024

Accepted Manuscript online:
28 February 2024

Article published online:
28 March 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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