Faculty mentor/PI email address
arigo@rowan.edu
Keywords
Women's Health, Menstruation, PMDD, PMS, Hormonal Contraceptive
IRB or IACUC Protocol Number
PRO-2024-324
Date of Presentation
5-6-2026 12:00 AM
Poster Abstract
Hormonal contraceptive (HC) use is primarily for pregnancy prevention and may reduce menstrual symptoms in some individuals, though evidence is inconsistent. The aim of the study was to examine differences in symptom presence and severity among 64 menstruating women with ≥1 CVD risk factor (e.g., hypertension), including HC users (20.63%) and non-users (79.37%; sample Mage= 31.88 ± 9.89, Mbmi= 31.79 ± 7.6). Participants completed the global Premenstrual Screening Tool at baseline and then reported the presence and severity of 16 menstrual symptoms (1=Not Present to 4 = Severe) in end-of-day surveys over 45 days. In a two-level multilevel model, HC use was not significantly associated with daily symptom severity over time. Global symptom severity was a significant predictor of daily symptoms (F[1, 52.6]=15.43, p< 0.001), such that women with higher scores in the global measure at baseline reported greater severity across days. Findings suggest that daily symptom severity may not differ by HC use, though women may benefit from focusing on individual symptom history alongside related psychosocial experiences (e.g., healthy eating, self-care). Analyses of within-person associations between these experiences and symptoms may help to clarify when, for whom, and under what conditions symptom fluctuations occur, and could inform intervention.
Disciplines
Cardiovascular Diseases | Medicine and Health Sciences | Women's Health
Included in
Hormonal Contraceptives and Menstrual Symptom Severity among Women with Elevated Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Global and Daily Assessment
Hormonal contraceptive (HC) use is primarily for pregnancy prevention and may reduce menstrual symptoms in some individuals, though evidence is inconsistent. The aim of the study was to examine differences in symptom presence and severity among 64 menstruating women with ≥1 CVD risk factor (e.g., hypertension), including HC users (20.63%) and non-users (79.37%; sample Mage= 31.88 ± 9.89, Mbmi= 31.79 ± 7.6). Participants completed the global Premenstrual Screening Tool at baseline and then reported the presence and severity of 16 menstrual symptoms (1=Not Present to 4 = Severe) in end-of-day surveys over 45 days. In a two-level multilevel model, HC use was not significantly associated with daily symptom severity over time. Global symptom severity was a significant predictor of daily symptoms (F[1, 52.6]=15.43, p< 0.001), such that women with higher scores in the global measure at baseline reported greater severity across days. Findings suggest that daily symptom severity may not differ by HC use, though women may benefit from focusing on individual symptom history alongside related psychosocial experiences (e.g., healthy eating, self-care). Analyses of within-person associations between these experiences and symptoms may help to clarify when, for whom, and under what conditions symptom fluctuations occur, and could inform intervention.