Menstrual Cycle Experiences Research Articles

Hubungan Kontrasepsi Hormonal, Lama Pemakaian, dan Penyakit Diabetes Militus terhadap Gangguan Menstruasi pada Wanita Usia Subur Di Wilayah Kerja UPTD Puskesmas Sukarami Kabupaten Muara Enim Tahun 2021

Menstrual disorders are conditions when the menstrual cycle experiences anomalies or abnormalities. WHO data in 2012 the prevalence of menstrual disorders in women was around 45%. This study was aimed at determining the relationships of hormonal contraception, duration of use and diabetes mellitus toward menstrual disorders in women of childbearing age in the Working Area of Sukarami Public Health Center (the regional technical implementation unit), Sungai Rotan District, Muara Enim Regency in 2021. This study was an analytical survey with a cross-sectional approach and it used chi-square statistical test. The population of this study was all the women of childbearing age, with a total 40 mothers who visited the Public Health Center. The result of the study showed that there was a significant relationship between hormonal contraception and menstrual disorders with p value 0.026 (0.05), duration of contraception use and menstrual disorders with p value 0.021 (0.05), diabetes mellitus and menstrual disorders with p value 0.016 (0.05). The results of the study whole be used as input for health workers especially at the Sukarami Public Health Center to provide counseling about menstrual disorders and improve health services to the community.

Is Emotion recognition processing across menstrual cycle and a history of Postpartum Depression potential risk factors for Premenstrual Dysphonic Disorder?

IntroductionMany women during the different phases of the menstrual cycle experience significant emotional and cognitive changes; for some, these changes can affect their everyday living. Premenstrual Dysphonic Disorder (PMDD) is a health problem that affects up to 5% of women of childbearing age. The exact cause is unknown; still, hormonal changes throughout the menstrual cycle may play a role. Women with a family history of Postpartum Depression (PPD) may be at increased risk.ObjectivesThe purpose was to examine if Emotion recognition processing across menstrual cycle and a history of PPD are potential risk factors for PMDD.MethodsWe identified 34 women with a history of PPD and contacted their daughters to explain the purpose of our study. Of those meeting the criteria to participate, 38 volunteered (aged 18-30 y.o., right handed, educational level >9 y., regular cycle duration). The Emotion Recognition Task (ERT) was administered in the luteal and the follicular phase. Women found to present significant differences in emotion recognition depending on the estradiol and progesterone levels were clinically interviewed (DSM-V).ResultsOf the 16 women who have showed significant differences across the two phases of the menstrual cycle, 7 were diagnosed with PMDD (43,7%). Among the ones who have not presented differences (22), only 2 received a diagnosis of PMDD (9%).ConclusionsThis study shows that Emotion recognition processing across menstrual cycle and a history of PPD may predict which women could be at risk for PMDD, playing, therefore a key role in PMDD early diagnosis.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Do women with Premenstrual Dysphonic Disorder experience differences in emotion recognition during the menstrual cycle?

IntroductionThe relationship between behavioral changes and the menstrual cycle in women at a reproductive age has been investigated in several studies; women during every menstrual cycle experience noticeable changes in levels of sex hormones which are consequently reflected on their mood and behavior. The relationship between the menstrual cycle and the emotion recognition processing has been also studied.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to examine if differences exist between women with Premenstrual Dysphonic Disorder (PMDD) and women without PMDD in Emotion recognition processing across menstrual cycle.MethodsWe examined 26 women with a PMDD and 30 women without PMDD, who have both visited the Mental Health Centre (aged 18-35 y.o., right handed, educational level >9 y., regular cycle duration). Women were clinically interviewed (DSM-V); also the Emotion Recognition Task (ERT) was administered in the luteal and the follicular phase.ResultsWomen with PMDD showed significant differences in emotion recognition depending on the the luteal and the follicular phase (according to estradiol and progesterone level) whereas women without PMDD did not present significantly different responses to the emotional stimuli.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that there is an effect of PMDD on emotional facial recognition across the two phases of the menstrual cycle. Thus, the importance of incorporating ERT in the formal clinical examination of PMDD is highlighted.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Effect of Perceived Pandemic Stress and Sleep Variation on Menstrual Cycle Occurrence, its Severity and Premenstrual Syndrome: A Cross Sectional Study

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.

Chemoreflex function and brain blood flow during upright posture in men and women.

Orthostatic intolerance is more common in women than men, and some studies have found that women in the early follicular (EF) phase of the menstrual cycle experience the greatest feelings of lightheadedness. Chemoreflex function while supine or upright was investigated to determine the potential contribution of ventilatory control to these phenomena. Men (n = 13) and women (n = 14) were tested while supine and 70° upright (head‐up tilt [HUT]) and given: (1) normoxia or (2) hypercapnia (5% CO2). Women were tested during the EF phase (days 2–5) and the midluteal phase (ML; days 18–24). During HUT, all groups reduced cerebrovascular resistance index (men: 1.45 ± 0.08 to 1.42 ± 0.07 mmHg/(cm·sec), EF: 1.38 ± 0.11 to 1.26 ± 0.10 mmHg/(cm·sec), ML: 1.25 ± 0.07 to 1.09 ± 0.07 mmHg/(cm·sec); P ≤ 0.019); however, only men increased ventilation (men: 11.99 ± 0.65 to 13.24 ± 0.83 L/min; P < 0.01). In response to hypercapnia in the supine position, men had a smaller increase of diastolic middle cerebral artery velocity compared to women in the ML phase (men: +9.1 ± 2.0 cm/sec, ML: +15.7 ± 3.1 cm/sec, P = 0.039). During hypercapnia in HUT (compared to hypercapnia while supine), all groups had an augmented increase of ventilation (men: +7.46 ± 1.34 vs. +5.84 ± 1.09 L/min, EF: +6.71 ± 0.83 vs. +5.48 ± 0.66 L/min, ML: +7.99 ± 1.13 vs. +5.65 ± 0.81 L/min; P ≤ 0.028), suggesting that all groups experienced augmentation of the CO2 chemoreflex; however, only men had an augmented increase of mean arterial pressure (+0.10 ± 0.58 to +4.71 ± 0.87 mmHg; P ≤ 0.017). Our results indicate that men have different ventilatory responses to upright tilt compared to women, and that the CO2 chemoreflex response is enhanced in upright posture in both sexes. Furthermore, sexually dimorphic blood pressure responses to this chemoreflex enhancement are evident.

Guest Editorial: Perspectives on menstrual cycle experiences

Guest Editorial: Perspectives on menstrual cycle experiences

Attitudes towards and experience of the menstrual cycle across different cultural and religious groups

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of culture on menstrual attitudes and experience by distinguishing the separate issues of ethnicity and religious cultural identity. A total of 170 women living in Britain aged 13–85 (M = 36, SD = 16) participated in the study; 76 (44.7%) were culturally Christian, 48 (28.2%) culturally Muslim and 46 (27.1%) culturally Hindu. Respondents completed the Menstrual Attitudes Questionnaire (MAQ) and Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ). MANCOVA (controlling for the language of completion) showed no significant main effects of age group (over versus under 30) and no significant interaction between age and religious group, but did show a significant main effect of religious group on both MAQ (F(10, 314) = 5.1, p<0.01) and MDQ (F(16, 310) = 3.2, p<0.01) scores. Between‐subject effects for the MAQ were significant for four of the five attitude subscales and Bonferroni t'‐tests indicated that Hindus were significantly different to both Christians and Muslims. Between‐subject effects for the MDQ were significant for five of the eight subscales. Bonferroni t'‐tests showed that whilst Muslims scored higher than both Hindus and Christians on the ‘control’ subscale, Hindus scored significantly higher on ‘pain’ than Christians and significantly lower on ‘arousal’ than both Muslims and Christians. The results are consistent with a bio‐psychosocial model of menstrual cycle experience but also demonstrate that culture should be defined not only in terms of ethnicity but also in terms of other cultural factors such as religious heritage. The similarity between Christians and Muslims may be explained by the shared roots of these faiths, in contrast with the very different beliefs of Hindus.

Our Menses, Ourselves: Research and Commentary from The Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

The menstrual cycle is a unique aspect of being female that includes both biological and psychosocial experience. Individual girls and women experience cycle-related biological events, such as menarche (first menstruation), menstruation, amenorrhea, or menopause, within a cultural context in which prevailing cultural views about menstrual cycle experience play a role. The articles that we present in this special issue of Sex Roles raise awareness about menstrual experience as a biopsychosocial phenomenon that contributes to development of the self-concept in individual women and to more general notions of what being female is all about. More broadly, the authors investigate the contribution of context to contemporary menstrual cycle experience. The authors of these articles are colleagues who are members of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research (SMCR). The Society was formed in 1977 by a group of multidisciplinary scholars who understood the centrality of the menstrual cycle in women’s health and more broadly in women’s lives. Founding members were committed to promoting feminist, woman-centered research on the menstrual cycle to redress the narrow and mostly negative focus on the role of menstrual cycle in reproduction to that date. Since 1977, the Society has held biennial conferences, which have yielded more than a dozen published volumes on menstrua-

Oral contraception and cyclic changes in premenstrual and menstrual experiences

Despite the widespread use of oral contraceptives (OC) there is no consensus regarding their effect on menstrual cycle experiences. This study examines the cyclic changes of prospectively collected, daily menstrual cycle experiences of two groups of ‘healthy women’ using monophasic and triphasic OC compared with a group using non-hormonal contraception.A total of 119 ‘healthy women’ using monophasic, triphasic or non-hormonal contraception for three months, made daily ratings over at least two complete menstrual cycles. Cyclic changes of ratings within and between the groups were analyzed.The three groups showed significant cyclic changes in abdominal fullness, abdominal discomfort, breast fullness, general ‘premenstrual syndrome-like symptoms’ and in at least two mood ratings. Maximal changes in ratings occurred during the late premenstrual and menstrual phases.There were no significant differences between the three groups in cyclic changes for any physical rating, but there were for tiredness or fatigue (non-OC users reported experiencing tiredness or fatigue more frequently than the OC users) and sadness or depression (non-OC users experienced sadness or depression less frequently than OC users during the early part of the cycle, followed by a sharp rise from early premenstrual to the menstrual phase). There were no significant cyclic differences in ratings between the monophasic and triphasic groups.In conclusion, ‘healthy women’ using OC experience premenstrual and menstrual changes. Any differences between OC formulations are subtle and not of clinical significance in ‘healthy women’ already established on monophasic or triphasic hormonal contraception.

Positively Reframing Perceptions of the Menstrual Cycle among Women with Premenstrual Syndrome

To positively reframe perceptions of menstrual cycle experiences to diminish reports of negative perimenstrual symptoms among women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). A longitudinal quasi-experimental research design; data were collected on 28 women. Treatment sessions were conducted in a university classroom in the northeastern United States. The intervention consisted of a health promotion program that provided social support and a psychoeducational intervention with a positive reframing psychotherapeutic maneuver. To describe (a) perceptions of biologic, psychologic, and social outcomes related to perimenstrual changes and (b) compare biologic, psychologic, and social outcomes of women participating in a health promotion intervention with women not participating. Negative perimenstrual symptom reports decreased for women in the experimental group. In addition, the participants' personal resources increased significantly. Participation in a peer support group that provides women with information on positive concomitants of the menstrual cycle can benefit women with PMS.

Menstrual and premenstrual experiences of women in a developing country

The menstrual and premenstrual experiences of black Zimbabwean women were examined. Twenty‐five professional women and twenty‐five domestic workers were interviewed using semistruc‐tured, open‐ended interviews designed to explore their experiences. An analysis of consensual data indicated a number of predominant themes, including secrecy associated with menstruation, the negativity surrounding menarche, the breakdown of the traditional family network that passes on information about menstruation, and the acceptance of menstrual cycle experiences by the women. The main differences between the two groups concerned explanations of the functions and purpose of menstruation and the reporting of physical and affective symptoms. These differences are suggestive of the impact of educational level on experiences of menstruation.

Effect of positive reframing and social support on perception of perimenstrual changes among women with premenstrual syndrome

Traditional menstrual cycle research reflects a stereotypical negative bias that does not encompass the complexity of the phenomena. For example, even though the majority of menstrual cycle literature has focused on negative changes during the perimenstruum, some women report positive changes. This article describes a unique intervention aimed at refraining perceptions of menstrual cycle experiences for the purpose of diminishing perimenstrual impairment. The intervention was a health promotion program that provided social support and a positive reframing component for women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) across four menstrual cycles. Through use of a preexperimental design, data were collected on 18 women. Daily measures included prospective assessment of perceptions of perimenstrual changes (impairment and activation). Retrospective assessments of moods (anxiety and depression), social resources (personal resources and marital satisfaction), and perimenstrual change perceptions were gathered at three time periods—before, during, and after the experimental condition. Data analyses included descriptive and multivariate strategies. Results indicated that, although perimenstrual activation did not increase significantly, impairment did decrease. In addition, there were significant changes from baseline to follow‐up on state depression and personal resource variables. Findings from this study underscore the need for further investigation of the wide continuum of women's diverse menstrual cycle experiences.

What are young undergraduate women's qualitative experiences of the menstrual cycle?

The dominant ideology of the premenstrual woman is that of a person who has no control over her moods, cognition and behavior because of her fluctuating hormone levels. The social influence of this stereotype has been put forward as an explanation for discrepancies between retrospective and prospective accounts of premenstrual experiences. However, recent research has found that women can and do distinguish between their own experience and that of the stereotype. What their own experience is (positive as well as negative) was the question that we set out to answer in this study. Nine undergraduate women were interviewed about their menstrual cycle experiences. Using qualitative analysis of their subjective accounts, a clear distinction between self and other premenstrual experiences emerged. White the women did experience premenstrual symptoms, they considered them to be relatively minor in comparison to what they defined as premenstrual syndrome. Furthermore, none of them had previously considered any positive menstrual cycle related experiences but the management of menstruation was emphatically viewed as a ‘hassle’. We conclude that women can and do distinguish their own experience from the premenstrual stereotype and this needs to be recognized in the treatment setting; there is a lack of positive discourse for the menstrual cycle which needs to be developed and more attention needs to be paid to menstrual management because it is of great concern to women but is currently not discussed openly.

The relationship between daily hassles, ways of coping, and menstrual cycle symptomatology

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships found among daily hassles, the use of specific coping strategies, and reported menstrual cycle symptoms. One hundred and sixty-seven female undergraduate psychology students completed a series of questionnaires assessing their most recent menstrual cycle experience, how they coped with those symptoms, and the frequency and severity of daily stressors experienced in the past month. Frequency and severity of daily hassles were positively correlated with symptoms for all phases of the menstrual cycle. A significant negative correlation was obtained between premenstrual symptoms and the use of distancing, as a coping strategy. In addition, distancing was negatively related to menstrual tension symptoms.