Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan.
Department of Microbiology, Pathology and Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan.
Womens Health (Lond). 2023 Jan-Dec;19:17455057221150099. doi: 10.1177/17455057221150099.
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has been an extraordinarily stressful situation in recent years. Stress is a physiological reaction to negative stimuli that is regulated by different neuroendocrine pathways. The female reproductive function is maintained by the menstrual cycle, which is negatively affected by hyperstimulation of stress signals.
This study evaluates the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak on menstrual function and mental health, exploring the relationship between them.
The current study uses a cross-sectional, survey-based design.
During this cross-sectional study, an online self-completion questionnaire was conducted among a sample of 385 Jordanian female medical students during the pandemic. The survey compared menstrual characteristics, depression, anxiety, and stress 10 months after the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic with 10 months prior. Paired -test, McNemar's test, Pearson's correlation, and multiple linear regression model were employed to analyze data using SPSS software.
The mean age of female medical student respondents was 19.89 years. Data showed that the menstrual cycle length significantly increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic compared with 10 months prior (32.23 days versus 30.02 days, = 0.019). The average number of heavy bleeding days also increased during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic (2.82 days versus 2.42 days, = 0.002). The proportion of females with heavy bleeding amount was more than doubled during the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 compared with before (27.3% versus 10.4%, = 0.000). Unpleasant menstrual signs such as nausea and/or vomiting, breast pain, and urinary urgency were significantly increased during the pandemic ( = 0.000, = 0.008, and = 0.024, respectively). During coronavirus disease 2019, a positive association between total Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 Questionnaire score and heavy bleeding was identified ( < 0.05). The findings also indicated that mental disorders and the incidence of amenorrhea, nausea and/or vomiting, and urinary urgency were positively correlated during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The multiple regression analysis revealed associations between several menstrual characteristics such as amenorrhea and severity of bleeding with coronavirus disease 2019-related depression, anxiety, and stress.
This study revealed that the stress related to the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 could affect the female menstrual cycle and hence the quality of women's life. Therefore, this study could serve as a baseline for planning and introducing stress mitigation interventions in crisis situations to improve the physiological and mental well-being of females and improve their quality of life.
2019 年冠状病毒病大流行是近年来极其紧张的情况。压力是对负性刺激的生理反应，由不同的神经内分泌途径调节。女性生殖功能由月经周期维持，而应激信号的过度刺激会对其产生负面影响。
本研究评估了 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行对月经功能和心理健康的影响，探讨了它们之间的关系。
本研究采用横断面、基于调查的设计。
在这项横断面研究中，对 385 名约旦籍女医学生在大流行期间进行了在线自我完成的问卷调查。该调查比较了 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行后 10 个月与大流行前 10 个月的月经特征、抑郁、焦虑和压力。采用 SPSS 软件对数据进行配对检验、McNemar 检验、Pearson 相关和多元线性回归模型分析。
女医学生应答者的平均年龄为 19.89 岁。数据显示，与大流行前相比，月经周期长度在 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行期间明显增加（32.23 天比 30.02 天，=0.019）。月经期大出血天数也有所增加（2.82 天比 2.42 天，=0.002）。在 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行期间，经期大出血量较多的女性比例是大流行前的两倍多（27.3%比 10.4%，=0.000）。恶心和/或呕吐、乳房疼痛和尿急等不愉快的月经症状在大流行期间显著增加（=0.000，=0.008 和=0.024）。在 2019 年冠状病毒病期间，总抑郁、焦虑和压力量表-21 问卷评分与大出血之间存在正相关（<0.05）。研究结果还表明，在 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行期间，精神障碍与闭经、恶心和/或呕吐以及尿急的发生率呈正相关。多元回归分析显示，闭经和严重出血等几种月经特征与 2019 年冠状病毒病相关的抑郁、焦虑和压力之间存在关联。
本研究表明，与 2019 年冠状病毒病大流行相关的压力可能会影响女性的月经周期，从而影响女性的生活质量。因此，本研究可以为计划和引入危机情况下的减轻压力干预措施提供基础，以改善女性的生理和心理健康，提高她们的生活质量。
