Comparison of quality of life scores among non-exercising adolescent females and adolescent dancers with oligomenorrhea and amenorrhea.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To evaluate whether oligomenorrhea and amenorrhea in adolescent females would have a negative effect on the standard quality of life (QOL) scores as compared to eumenorrheic adolescents, and whether such scoring would differ between those with exercise related oligo/amenorrhea or those with hypothalamic/ovarian causes.

DESIGN

Prospective cross-sectional observational survey.

METHODS

Young dancers were recruited from the Sports Clinic of a collegial School of Dance, and non-dancers were recruited from a hospital-based adolescent gynecology clinic. All subjects completed a structured self-answering questionnaire recording epidemiological data and a 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). All subjects had a full hormonal profile and pelvic ultrasound to study ovarian morphology.

RESULTS

Sixty-six dancers (19 with exercise-related oligo/amenorrhea and 47 eumenorrhoeic) and 90 non-dancers (45 eumenorrhoeic and 45 oligo/amenorrheic) were analyzed, all 16-20 years of age. There was no difference in the scoring between eumenorrheic dancers and non-dancers. Oligo/amenorrheic dancers did not score lower than eumenorrheic dancers. Compared with eumenorrheic subjects or to oligo/amenorrheic dancers, oligo/amenorrheic non-dancers had significantly lower QOL scores in the domains of physical functioning (PF) and general health (GH) and vitality (VT).

CONCLUSION

Compared with eumenorrheic adolescents, QOL scores were lower in non-exercising adolescents with oligo-amenorrhea, but not those with exercise related oligo/amenorrhea. The negative effects of oligomenorrhea and amenorrhea on quality of life were apparently attenuated if the menstrual dysfunction was related to physical training.