title: Patterns and prevalence of medication use across the menstrual cycle among healthy, reproductive aged women.
abstract: The purpose of this study is to characterize the patterns of medication intake in healthy, reproductive-age women not using hormonal contraception.
  
  
  
  Two hundered fifty-nine healthy, premenopausal women (18-44 years of age) enrolled in the BioCycle Study (2005-2007) were followed over two menstrual cycles. Women were excluded if they were currently using oral contraceptives or other chronic medications. Over-the-counter and prescription medication use among participants was evaluated daily throughout the study via a diary assessing type of medication, dosage, units, and frequency. Medications were categorized as allergy, antibiotics, central nervous system (CNS), cold and cough, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, and pain medication based on primary active ingredient. Medication use within each category was assessed across standardized 28-day cycles to evaluate differences in use across cycle phases (i.e., early, middle, and late).
  
  
  
  Medication use was reported by 73% of participants. The most and least frequently used medications, respectively, were pain (69%) and musculoskeletal medications (1%). Pain, CNS, and antibiotic medication use varied significantly across the cycle, with pain and CNS medication more frequently reported during menses and antibiotics more frequently during the luteal phase. Allergy, cold and cough, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal medication use did not vary across the cycle.
  
  
  
  Patterns of medication use among reproductive age women vary across the menstrual cycle for certain types of medications, particularly in pain (e.g., Ibuprofen), antibiotics (e,g, Amoxicillin), and CNS (e.g., Adderall) medications. Future studies involving use of these types of medication in premenopausal women may need to consider the relationship of their use to the menstrual cycle. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kristen A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsey A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Sjaarda
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Sunni L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Mumford
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Garbose
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Karen C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Schliep
authors.affiliation: Risk Sciences International and McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mattison
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Neil J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wactawski-Wende
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Enrique F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Schisterman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002491:Central Nervous System Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008597:Menstrual Cycle; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002491:Central Nervous System Agents; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D055553:Prescription Drugs
keywords: medication use; menstrual cycle; over-the-counter; pharmacoepidemiology; prescription