Ihalainen Johanna K, Takalo Sinikka, Mjøsund Katja, Solli Guro Strøm, Valtonen Maarit, Kokkonen Marja, Hackney Anthony C, Mikkonen Ritva S
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Finnish Institute of High Performance Sport KIHU, Jyväskylä, Finland.
Women Sport Phys Act J. 2024 Jan;32(1). doi: 10.1123/wspaj.2023-0102. Epub 2024 Jul 2.
The present scientific consensus is that the menstrual cycle (MC) and hormonal contraceptive (HC) cycle only influence performance trivially. Nevertheless, athletes perceive changes in performance that they associate with different phases of their hormonal cycle.
A total of 959 female athletes completed a questionnaire, of which 750 were included in the present analysis. The questionnaire included questions about demographics and experiences of the MC and HC (symptoms, perceived impact on performance characteristics).
In total, 55% of athletes reported a natural MC while 45% reported HC use. Meanwhile, 56% of all athletes reported a decline in perceived performance during the bleeding or inactive phase, whereas 26% of all athletes reported no changes in performance over their hormonal cycle. All athletes reported an average of 10 ± 7 symptoms during hormonal cycles. The naturally menstruating (NM) group reported more symptoms than the HC group ( < .05). The most frequent symptoms reported were abdominal pain, bloating, and mood swings. Only 7% of all athletes (4.1% in NM and 11.3% in HC) reported an absence of any symptoms. Quantity of total symptoms was associated with a perceived decrease in performance ( = .138, < .05). Hormonal cycles had the greatest negative effect on mental performance with 37% reporting a large to very large effect.
Perceived negative effects on performance were similar in both NM and HC groups while perceived mental performance (e.g., mood and attention) appeared to be most affected by both MC and HC.
目前的科学共识是，月经周期（MC）和激素避孕（HC）周期对运动表现的影响微乎其微。然而，运动员们察觉到了与激素周期不同阶段相关的运动表现变化。
共有959名女性运动员完成了一份问卷，其中750名被纳入本分析。问卷包括有关人口统计学以及月经周期和激素避孕的经历（症状、对运动表现特征的感知影响）的问题。
总体而言，55%的运动员报告有自然月经周期，45%报告使用激素避孕。同时，56%的运动员报告在出血期或非活跃期运动表现感知下降，而26%的运动员报告其激素周期内运动表现无变化。所有运动员在激素周期内平均报告有10±7种症状。自然月经组报告的症状比激素避孕组更多（P<0.05）。报告最频繁的症状是腹痛、腹胀和情绪波动。所有运动员中只有7%（自然月经组为4.1%，激素避孕组为11.3%）报告没有任何症状。症状总数与运动表现感知下降相关（r=0.138，P<0.05）。激素周期对心理表现的负面影响最大，37%的人报告有很大到非常大的影响。
自然月经组和激素避孕组对运动表现的负面感知相似，而心理表现（如情绪和注意力）似乎受月经周期和激素避孕影响最大。
