Elsevier

Maturitas

Volume 28, Issue 1, September 1997, Pages 19-25
Maturitas

Menorrhagia—a search for epidemiological risk markers

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-5122(97)00065-0Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To isolate epidemiological risk factors for menorrhagia. Methods: Menstrual blood loss (MBL) of one bleeding episode of 182 healthy women was measured with the alkaline hematin method and the results were related to age, parity, body mass index and smoking habits. Multiple and logistic regression analysis was performed to isolate the variables that most influence MBL. Two consecutive menstrual episodes were measured in 117 women, to determine individual constancy. Results: MBL increased significantly with age (Kruskal-Wallis, P < 0.03) and the percentage of women with menorrhagia was significantly higher above 40 years of age (Mann-Whitney's ranks sum test, P < 0.05). The odds ratio of parous:nulliparous women for menorrhagia was 2.27:1, but after adjustment for age this influence disappeared. Body mass index and smoking habits were not significantly related to menorrhagia. The mean difference between the MBL of two consecutive menstruations is 2.1 ml (S.E.: 1.7, 95% CI: − 1.3 to 5.5 ml). Conclusions: Only age could be indicated as a risk marker for menorrhagia. Parity, body mass index and smoking habits appear to have no significant effect on MBL, when adjusted for age. The individual constancy in MBL between two consecutive cycles is very high and therefore one single measurement suffices in studies of MBL.

References (28)

  • G Rybo

    Population studies of menorrhagia

    Res Clin Forums

    (1983)
  • G Rybo et al.

    Plasminogen activators in the endometrium. Clinical aspects

    Acta Obstet Gynaecol Scand

    (1966)
  • L Hallberg et al.

    Constancy of individual menstrual blood loss

    Acta Obstet Gynaecol Scand

    (1964)
  • FE Hytten et al.

    Iron loss at menstruation

    J Obstet Gynaecol Br Commun

    (1964)
  • Cited by (33)

    • Evaluation of NovaSure <sup>®</sup> global endometrial ablation in symptomatic adenomyosis: A longitudinal study with a 36 month follow-up

      2018, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is one of the oldest and most frequent symptoms in gynecology [1]. Its prevalence is estimated to be between 11.4% and 13.2% in the general population, and increases with age to 25% in pre-menopause [2,3]. Its main etiologies are adenomyosis, myomas, polyps and endometrial hyperplasia.

    • Practice points in gynecardiology: Abnormal uterine bleeding in premenopausal women taking oral anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy

      2015, Maturitas
      Citation Excerpt :

      Heavy menstrual bleeding negatively affects a woman’s quality of life because of symptoms such as pain, fatigue, and social embarrassment and places a high burden on the health care system [16,19,20]. The amount of menstrual blood loss increases with age and is significantly higher in women above 40 years compared to younger women [21]. Women taking anticoagulant therapy experience both increased duration and volume of menstrual bleeding.

    • Hysteroscopic Findings in Women With Menorrhagia

      2013, Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Hallberg et al [5] demonstrated that menorrhagia increases with age because of the more frequent association with some uterine diseases (polyps, myomas, etc). In contrast to Janssen et al [11], who found that the percentage of women with menorrhagia markedly rises above the mean even after age 36, our study found a marked rise above the mean only after 45 years of age. In accordance with the findings of Hallberg et al [11], our data may be explained by the increased incidence of endometrial dysfunctional disorders and of benign uterine tumors, such as endometrial polyps and myomas, at this age.

    • Epidemiology of menometrorrhagia

      2008, Journal de Gynecologie Obstetrique et Biologie de la Reproduction
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text