Menstrual Blood Donation for Endometriosis Research: A Cross-Sectional Survey on Women's Willingness and Potential Barriers

K. Bouzid, Kheira Bouzid, Mathilde Bourdon, Roxane Bartkowski, R Bartkowski, Marie Verbanck, Charles Chapron, Louis Marcellin, Frédéric Batteux, Frederic Batteux, Pietro Santulli, Piétro Santulli, Ludivine Doridot
Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2024 · vol. 31(6) , pp. 1617–1625 · doi:10.1007/s43032-024-01481-3 · PMID:38418666 · PMC11111534 · W4392230480
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This cross-sectional survey found that women with and without endometriosis are largely willing to donate menstrual blood for research, with higher willingness among endometriosis patients, and that menstrual cup use and dysmenorrhea were associated with increased donation willingness.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This paper used an anonymous French online cross-sectional survey (September 2022–February 2023; n=778 women) to assess whether women who self-declared an established endometriosis diagnosis were as willing as women without endometriosis to donate menstrual blood for biological research, and to identify potential barriers. Among women who reported menstruation (n=568), 78% said they were willing to donate; willingness was higher in women with endometriosis (83%, n=299) than in self-declared unaffected women (68%, n=134; p<0.001). Dysmenorrhea and prior menstrual cup use were associated with greater willingness, whereas hormonal contraception use was associated with unwillingness; in predictive terms, only prior menstrual cup use retained predictive value, and no significant associations were seen with age, heavy menstrual bleeding, or endometriosis subtype. A major limitation is the reliance on self-declared endometriosis status and the non-mandatory, self-reported survey design. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it specifically measures willingness and barriers to donating menstrual blood for endometriosis research.

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Abstract

An anonymous online survey in French was used to assess if endometriosis patients would be as ready as unaffected women to donate their menstrual blood for biological research on endometriosis and evaluate potential barriers to such donation. It was distributed in September 2022 by social media and two mailing lists, including a French patient organization. The questionnaire assessed participant age and brief medical history (hormonal contraception, endometriosis diagnosis, type of endometriosis), menstrual experience (menstrual blood abundance, dysmenorrhea), and whether participants would donate menstrual blood. Women who self-declared with an established endometriosis diagnosis versus no endometriosis were compared. Seven hundred seventy-eight women answered the survey. Among women with menstruation (n = 568), 78% are willing to donate menstrual blood for research. Importantly, this proportion was higher in women who declared having an established endometriosis diagnosis (83%, n = 299) compared to self-declared unaffected women (68%, n = 134, p < 0.001). The previous use of a menstrual cup and dysmenorrhea were significantly associated with the willingness to donate menstrual blood, while the use of hormonal contraception was significantly associated with an unwillingness to donate. Only the previous use of the menstrual cup had a predictive value for menstrual blood donation. No significant relationship was observed between menstrual blood donation and age, heavy menstrual bleeding and in endometriosis patients, endometriosis subtypes. In conclusion, women affected or not by endometriosis are largely willing to donate their menstrual blood for research on endometriosis, dysmenorrhea is not a barrier for donation, and women who use a menstrual cup are the more likely to donate.

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Condition tags

endometriosisdysmenorrhea

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation Menstruation

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