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Protocol - Menstrual History

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Description

Females answer questions about the frequency and regularity of her menstrual cycle and whether any irregularities were due to breastfeeding. Females also answer questions about whether their periods have stopped.

Specific Instructions

The Expert Review Panel recommends that question 4 be framed in the context of when the subject was not taking contraceptives.

Availability

Available

Protocol

1. Since the age of 18, have you ever experienced a time interval of 3 or more months when you did not have a menstrual period? [PROBE: IF "YES": Was this one time only or more than once?]

1[ ]No (Skip to question 4)

2[ ]Yes One time only

3[ ]Yes More than once

-8[ ]Don’t know (Skip to question 4)

2. Were you breastfeeding at the time?

1[ ]No (Skip to question 4)

2[ ]Yes

-8[ ]Don’t know (Skip to question 4)

3. Were you breastfeeding or pregnant every time this happened?

1[ ]No

2[ ]Yes

-8[ ]Don’t know

4. During ages 18-22 what was the pattern of your menstrual cycles? (excluding time around pregnancies)

[ ] Regular (within 8 days)

[ ] Usually irregular

[ ] Always irregular

[ ] No periods

5. On average, during the last year, how many days were there in a typical menstrual cycle, that is, from the beginning of bleeding of one menstrual period to the beginning of bleeding of the next period?

1[ ]Less than 21 days

2[ ]21-25 days

3[ ]26-32 days

4[ ]33-35 days

5[ ]36-90 days

6[ ]More than 90 days

7[ ]Too variable to say

-8[ ]Don’t know

6. Have your menstrual periods stopped permanently?

[ ] Yes, no menstrual periods

[ ] Yes, but have periods now due to female hormones (end)

[ ] No (end)

[ ] Not sure (end)

7. How old were you when your periods stopped?

[ ] Less than 35

[ ] 35-39

[ ] 40-44

[ ] 45-49

[ ] 50-54

[ ] 55 or more

Personnel and Training Required

None

Equipment Needs

Pencil and paper

Requirements
Requirement CategoryRequired
Major equipment No
Specialized training No
Specialized requirements for biospecimen collection No
Average time of greater than 15 minutes in an unaffected individual No
Mode of Administration

Self-administered questionnaire

Lifestage

Adult

Participants

Adult females, ages 18+

Selection Rationale

No single protocol was found to cover menstrual history through the life cycle. Therefore the PhenX Reproductive Health Working Group used protocols from three well established sources, the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), and the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS) to address disruptions and the end to menstrual cycles.

Language

Chinese, English

Standards
StandardNameIDSource
Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) Menstrual hx proto 62668-9 LOINC
Human Phenotype Ontology Menstrual irregularities HP:0000858 HPO
caDSR Form PhenX PX101101 - Menstrual History 5970987 caDSR Form
Derived Variables

None

Process and Review

The Expert Review Panel #5 (ERP 5) reviewed the measures in the Reproductive Health domain.

Guidance from ERP 5 includes:

  • Revised descriptions of the measure

Back-compatible; no changes to Data Dictionary.

Previous version in Toolkit archive (link).

Protocol Name from Source

Nurses Health Study (NHS), Black Womens Health Study (BWHS), Study of Women Across the Nation (SWAN)

Source

Harvard Medical School. (n.d.). Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), Long Form 1988. Boston, MA: Author. Question number 20 (question 4). National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), National Institutes of Health (NIH), et al. (n.d.). Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Baseline 08-19-04. Question numbers C20 (question 1), C20.1 (question 2), C20.2 (question 3), Question number C11 (question 5).

Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University (n.d.). Black Women’s Health Study 1995. Boston, MA: Author. Question 21 (questions 6 and 7).

General References

Carroll, J., Saxena, R., & Welt, C. K. (2012). Environmental and genetic factors influence age at menarche in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 25(5-6), 459-66.

Solomon, C. G., Hu, F. B., Dunaif, A., Rich-Edwards, J., Willett, W. C., Hunter, D. J., . . . Manson, J. E. (2001). Long or highly irregular menstrual cycles as a marker for risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. JAMA, 286, 2421-2426.

Solomon, C. G., Hu, F. B., Dunaif, A., Rich-Edwards, J. E., Stampfer, M. J., Willett. W. C., . . . Manson, J. E. (2002). Menstrual cycle irregularity and risk for future cardiovascular disease. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 87, 2013-2017.

Carroll, J., Saxena, R., & Welt, C. K. (2012). Environmental and genetic factors influence age at menarche in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 25(5-6), 459-66.

Protocol ID

101101

Variables
Export Variables
Variable Name Variable IDVariable DescriptiondbGaP Mapping
PX101101_Menstrual_Cycle_Pattern_Age_18_22
PX101101040000 During ages 18-22 what was the pattern of more
your menstrual cycles? (excluding time around pregnancies) show less
N/A
PX101101_Menstrual_Cycle_Typical_Days_Average
PX101101050000 On average, during the last year, how many more
days were there in a typical menstrual cycle, that is, from the beginning of bleeding of one menstrual period to the beginning of bleeding of the next period? show less
Variable Mapping
PX101101_Menstrual_Period_Stop_Age
PX101101070000 How old were you when your periods stopped? Variable Mapping
PX101101_Menstrual_Period_Stop_Permanently
PX101101060000 Have your menstrual periods stopped permanently? N/A
PX101101_No_Menstrual_Period_3_More_Months
PX101101010000 Since the age of 18, have you ever more
experienced a time interval of 3 or more months when you did not have a menstrual period? show less
Variable Mapping
PX101101_No_Menstrual_Period_Breastfeeding
PX101101020000 Were you breastfeeding at the time? N/A
PX101101_No_Menstrual_Period_Breastfeeding_Pregnant_Always
PX101101030000 Were you breastfeeding or pregnant every more
time this happened? show less
N/A
Reproductive Health
Measure Name

Menstrual History

Release Date

February 26, 2010

Definition

Questions to determine a female’s menstrual history including disruptions to her menstrual cycle.

Purpose

These questions assess females’ menstrual history.

Keywords

Reproductive health, menstrual periods, Study of Women Across the Nation, SWAN, Black Women’s Health Study, BWHS, Nurses’ Health Study, NHS

Measure Protocols
Protocol ID Protocol Name
101101 Menstrual History
Publications

Pomeroy, A., et al. (2022) Protocol for a Longitudinal Study of the Determinants of Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Young Adults. Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine. 2022 April; 7(2): 8. doi: 10.1249/tjx.0000000000000197

Forray, A., et al. (2017) Progesterone for smoking relapse prevention following delivery: A pilot, randomized, double-blind study. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2017 December; 86: 96-103. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.09.012