Changes in menstrual cycles among Iranian women during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

Ranjbar F; Haghani S; Aghashahi M; Gharacheh M

doi:10.18502/ijrm.v22i4.16389

Changes in menstrual cycles among Iranian women during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

Ranjbar F, Haghani S, Aghashahi M, Gharacheh M

International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2024 · doi:10.18502/ijrm.v22i4.16389 · PMID:39035630 · PMC11255462

OA: gold CC-BY-NC-4.0

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This cross-sectional study of 1500 Iranian women found that COVID-19 infection and triple vaccination significantly increased the likelihood of menstrual cycle alterations, including changes in interval, duration, and bleeding intensity.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-17 · read from full text ⓘ

This cross-sectional study surveyed 1500 Iranian women of childbearing age (15–45) recruited from healthcare centers in Tehran (April–November 2022) using a translated questionnaire covering demographic/reproductive factors and self-reported COVID-19 infection and vaccination history; women who were pregnant/breastfeeding, perimenopausal/menopausal, or had endometriosis or fibroids were excluded. The investigators found no statistically significant change in average cycle length before versus during the pandemic, but premenstrual symptom severity increased (p=0.002), and during the pandemic 27.3% reported changes in menstrual duration and 25.4% reported changes in interval, alongside alterations in bleeding patterns (heavier or lighter bleeding and changes in intra-menstrual bleeding). After prior COVID-19 infection, 32.8% reported cycle duration changes and 29.8% interval changes, with 34.5% reporting bleeding amount changes; vaccination status was self-disclosed, and most participants were vaccinated (88.7%). A key limitation is that menstrual changes were based on questionnaire self-report with no comprehensive scoring system for menstrual disorders. Relevance to endometriosis: the study excluded women with endometriosis and is therefore directly relevant to endometriosis research insofar as it characterizes menstrual changes during COVID-19 in a population without known endometriosis.

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Abstract

BackgroundSome women experienced alterations in their menstrual cycles during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the changes in menstrual cycles among Iranian women during the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and methodsThis cross-sectional study included 1500 women of childbearing age referred to healthcare centers in Tehran, Iran from April-November 2022. Participants were selected using the stratified sampling method. Data were collected via a questionnaire covering information on menstrual cycle, COVID-19 infection, and COVID-19 vaccination status. The study's outcomes focused on menstrual changes by evaluating cycle regularity, duration, and symptoms based on participant-reported observations.ResultsThe findings revealed that the pattern of menstrual change during the pandemic occurred in the form of a shorter interval in 8.6%, and longer interval in 8.9%, shorter duration in 10.4%, longer duration in 9.4%, heavier bleeding in 12.3%, lighter bleeding in 14.7%. The chance of menstrual changes in women who were infected with COVID-19 was 54% higher than that of women who were not infected, and the chance of menstrual changes in women who received 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine was 1.5 times higher than women who had not been vaccinated.ConclusionOur research revealed a high incidence of menstrual changes among Iranian women of childbearing age during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare providers should be knowledgeable about the menstrual changes associated with COVID-19 infection and vaccination to provide information and support to affected women.

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Fahimeh Ranjbar and Maryam Gharacheh played pivotal roles in the study's conceptualization, project supervision, and provision of crucial insights during the interpretation of study results and manuscript drafting. Shima Haghani conducted the data analysis, while Motahareh Aghashahi was responsible for data collection and entry. Furthermore, Shima Haghani and Motahareh Aghashahi actively participated in the article review process. All authors approved the final manuscript and take responsibility for the integrity of the data.

Coi Statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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