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A survey of more than 12,000 women of reproductive age found that 1 in 3 had experienced changes to their menstrual cycles and symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Noticeably higher stress levels than prepandemic benchmarks could be affecting menstruation.
This has implications for women trying to conceive or struggling with infertility, said Shannon M. Malloy, a research and data associate with Ovia Health, a women's and family health technology company in Boston. Malloy presented this study at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine's 2021 meeting.
COVID-19 has introduced new psychosocial, interpersonal, and environmental stressors. The pandemic is "one of the most stressful, collectively experienced disasters modern society has ever seen," said Malloy. Once imagined as an explicit event in time, COVID-19 has ingrained itself into daily life for the foreseeable future.
Research has shown that chronic, long-term stress produces high cortisol levels, which can alter endocrinology and regulation of menstrual cycles. This can make family building even more challenging, said Malloy. Physicians and other providers have always taken stress into account when managing patients, but never at this level of chronic, episodic stress, she said.
Survey Examines Impact on ART
Ovia Health decided to investigate the relationship between perceived stress and menstrual cycle and symptom changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, to see how it might affect assisted reproductive technology (ART).
