COVID-19 vaccine and menstrual conditions in female: data analysis of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)

Abstract

BackgroundIn reports of adverse reactions following vaccination with the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) vaccines, there have been fewer reports of concern for menstrual disorders in female.ObjectiveOur study employed Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to investigate and analyze the relationship between COVID-19 Vaccines and menstrual disorders in female.MethodsWe collected reports of menstrual disorders in VAERS from July 2, 1990 to November 12, 2021, and performed a stratified analysis. The potential relationship between COVID-19 vaccine and reports of menstrual disorders was evaluated using the Reporting Odds Ratio (ROR) method.ResultsA total of 14,431 reports of menstrual disorders were included in the study, and 13,118 were associated with COVID-19 vaccine. The ROR was 7.83 (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 7.39–8.28). The most commonly reported event was Menstruation irregular (4998 reports), and a higher percentage of female aged 30–49 years reported menstrual disorders (42.55%) after exposure to COVID-19 Vaccines. Both for all reports of menstrual disorders (ROR = 5.82; 95%CI: 4.93–6.95) and excluding reports of unknown age (ROR = 13.02; 95%CI: 10.89–15.56),suggest that female age may be associated with menstrual disorders after vaccination with the COVID-19 Vaccines.ConclusionThere is a potential safety signal when the COVID-19 vaccine is administered to young adult female (30–49 years old), resulting in menstrual disorders in. However, due to the well-known limitations of spontaneous reporting data, it is challenging to explicity classify menstrual disorders as an adverse event of the COVID-19 Vaccines, and reports of adverse reactions to COVID-19 Vaccines in this age group should continue to be tracked.