TY - JOUR
T1 - How do anticoagulants impact menstrual bleeding and quality of life? - The PERIOD study
AU - Patel, Jignesh
AU - Nzelu, Obianuju
AU - Roberts, Lara
AU - Johns, Jemma
AU - Ross, Jackie
AU - Arya, Roopen
N1 - Funding Information:
The study was funded by Department of Haematology, King's College Hospital.
Funding Information:
L.N.R. has received speaker fees and travel grant from Bayer and an investigator-initiated research grant and travel grant from Sanofi. R.A. reports grants from Bayer ; personal fees from Bayer and Sanofi and nonfinancial support from Bayer and Sanofi .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Background: There is increasing recognition that menstruating women prescribed anticoagulants experience heavy menstrual bleeding. Objectives: The aim of this study is to report the extent of bleeding in menstruating women after commencing anticoagulants and the impact it has on their quality of life. Methods: Women aged 18 to 50, initiated on anticoagulant therapy, were approached to take part in the study. In parallel, a control group of women was also recruited. Women were asked to complete the menstrual bleeding questionnaire and a pictorial blood assessment chart (PBAC) during their next 2 menstrual cycles. Differences between the control and anticoagulated group were compared. Significance was considered at < .05. Ethics committee approval: REC reference: 19/SW/0211. Results: Fifty-seven women in the anticoagulation and 109 women in the control group returned their questionnaires. Women in the anticoagulated group reported an increase in the median length of their menstrual cycle from 5 to 6 days after commencing anticoagulation, compared to 5 days for women in the control group (P < .05). Anticoagulated women reported significantly higher PBAC scores as compared to the control group (P < .05), with two-thirds of women in the anticoagulation group reporting heavy menstrual bleeding. Women in the anticoagulation group reported worsening quality of life scores following the initiation of anticoagulation, compared with women in the control group (P < .05). Conclusion: Heavy menstrual bleeding occurred in two-thirds of women commencing anticoagulants, who completed a PBAC, which had negative impact on their quality of life. Clinicians commencing anticoagulation therapy should be mindful of this, and recognized measures should be taken to help minimize this problem for menstruating individuals.
AB - Background: There is increasing recognition that menstruating women prescribed anticoagulants experience heavy menstrual bleeding. Objectives: The aim of this study is to report the extent of bleeding in menstruating women after commencing anticoagulants and the impact it has on their quality of life. Methods: Women aged 18 to 50, initiated on anticoagulant therapy, were approached to take part in the study. In parallel, a control group of women was also recruited. Women were asked to complete the menstrual bleeding questionnaire and a pictorial blood assessment chart (PBAC) during their next 2 menstrual cycles. Differences between the control and anticoagulated group were compared. Significance was considered at < .05. Ethics committee approval: REC reference: 19/SW/0211. Results: Fifty-seven women in the anticoagulation and 109 women in the control group returned their questionnaires. Women in the anticoagulated group reported an increase in the median length of their menstrual cycle from 5 to 6 days after commencing anticoagulation, compared to 5 days for women in the control group (P < .05). Anticoagulated women reported significantly higher PBAC scores as compared to the control group (P < .05), with two-thirds of women in the anticoagulation group reporting heavy menstrual bleeding. Women in the anticoagulation group reported worsening quality of life scores following the initiation of anticoagulation, compared with women in the control group (P < .05). Conclusion: Heavy menstrual bleeding occurred in two-thirds of women commencing anticoagulants, who completed a PBAC, which had negative impact on their quality of life. Clinicians commencing anticoagulation therapy should be mindful of this, and recognized measures should be taken to help minimize this problem for menstruating individuals.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150056797&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.rpth.2023.100072
DO - 10.1016/j.rpth.2023.100072
M3 - Article
SN - 2475-0379
VL - 7
JO - Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis
JF - Research and practice in thrombosis and haemostasis
IS - 2
M1 - 100072
ER -