# Menstrual health during the Covid-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study among young people with and without endometriosis

> **NIH NIH R01** · MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $274,576

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Despite prevalent anecdotal reports, the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination on menorrhagia and
menstrual regularity remains largely undocumented and unstudied. COVID-19 disease has impacted millions,
while stay-at-home orders and heightened stress have impacted billions. Menorrhagia, menstrual irregularity,
and chronic pelvic pain (with or without endometriosis) are known to increase in severity when challenged with
stress, unraveling of personal coping mechanisms, or diminished access to healthcare – all of which occurred
during the COVID-19 pandemic. To successfully assess changes in menstrual and gynecologic characteristics
attributable to SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination, it is critical to compare post-infection or post-vaccination
menstruation and pelvic symptoms to that person’s pre-exposure menstruation and also to compare
menstruation among those who have been infected or vaccinated to those who have not, accounting for
pandemic impacts that may vary by individual social or economic frailty and mental health. Answering these
critical questions with scientific rigor in existing research cohort populations is responsive to Notice of Special
Interest (NOSI) to Encourage Administrative Supplement Applications to Investigate COVID-19 Vaccination and
Menstruation (NOT-HD-21-035). We will utilize an ongoing prospective study, the Women’s Health Study: from
Adolescence to Adulthood (A2A, N=1569) - the core cohort included in the Parent R01 (HD094842). Cohort
participants have completed annual questionnaires since enrollment began in 2012, which includes assessment
of menstrual characteristics. Leveraging this cohort to compare and contrast prospectively collected pre-, peri-,
and post-pandemic characteristics and inflammatory markers, we will test these hypotheses: a) SARS-CoV-2
infection is associated with incident or worsened menorrhagia, menstrual irregularity or pelvic pain compared to
pre-pandemic and pre-infection menstrual characteristics within individual women, and compared to women who
have not been infected; b) SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is associated with incident or worsened menorrhagia,
menstrual irregularity or pelvic pain, as has been reported anecdotally, compared to pre-vaccination menstrual
characteristics within individuals, and compared to unvaccinated women; and c) Increase in COVID-19
pandemic-related distress (e.g. depression, anxiety, social isolation, economic peril) and diminished healthy
coping will be associated with incident or increased severity of menorrhagia, menstrual cycle irregularity, or
chronic pelvic pain – independent of SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination. While many are scrambling to
assemble research teams and establish de novo human data and sample collection, which will yield uncertain
deliverables, small samples sizes, and often reliance on fully de-identified samples from which confounding and
modification cannot be validly assessed, the proposed study capitalizes o...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10434356
- **Project number:** 3R01HD094842-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Asgerally T. Fazleabas
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $274,576
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10434356

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10434356, Menstrual health during the Covid-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study among young people with and without endometriosis (3R01HD094842-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10434356. Licensed CC0.

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