title: The Prevalence and Impact of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding (Menorrhagia) in Elite and Non-Elite Athletes.
abstract: To identify the prevalence and impact of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) in exercising females where anemia may have a significant effect on training and performance a 'Female Health Questionnaire' was designed incorporating a validated diagnostic HMB series, demographics, exercise ability data, training status, anemia, iron supplementation and whether the menstrual cycle had affected training and performance. The survey was conducted in two stages; initially online, advertised via social media, and then repeated via face-to-face interviews with runners registered for the 2015 London Marathon. 789 participants responded to the online survey, and 1073 completed the survey at the marathon. HMB was reported by half of those online (54%), and by more than a third of the marathon runners (36%). Surprisingly, HMB was also prevalent amongst elite athletes (37%). Overall, 32% of exercising females reported a history of anemia, and 50% had previously supplemented with iron. Only a minority (22%) had sought medical advice. HMB is highly prevalent in exercising females, associated with self-reported anemia, increased use of iron supplementation and a perceived negative impact on performance. Further research is needed to investigate the impact of HMB, iron deficiency and anemia in exercising females.
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom.|School of Sport, Health and Applied Science, St Mary's University, Twickenham, United Kingdom.|Orreco Ltd, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland.
authors.forename: Georgie
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bruinvels
authors.affiliation: School of Sport, Health and Applied Science, St Mary's University, Twickenham, United Kingdom.|Orreco Ltd, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland.|English Institute of Sport, Loughborough, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burden
authors.affiliation: School of Sport, Health and Applied Science, St Mary's University, Twickenham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Toby
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: School of Sport, Health and Applied Science, St Mary's University, Twickenham, United Kingdom.|Orreco Ltd, Institute of Technology, Sligo, Ireland.
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pedlar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056352:Athletes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000090463:Iron Deficiencies; D008595:Menorrhagia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult