Women endurance runners with menstrual dysfunction have prolonged interruption of training due to injury

Strenuous exercise by women is associated with menstrual dysfunction, eatin g disorders and osteoporosis. Intensive training may also increase the susc eptibility to infections. In this study, we investigated whether menstrual dysfunction was related to musculoskeletal injuries and/or upper respirator y tract infections in women middle/long-distance runners. A questionnaire w as mailed to 127 Swedish female runners of whom 75% answered. This retrospe ctive study showed a higher frequency of menstrual disorders (25%) in runne rs than in the general population. Furthermore, almost half of the athletes (46%) were classified as at risk of developing eating disorders. Women ath letes with menstrual dysfunction were found to have had a longer interrupti on of training due to musculoskeletal injuries than those with regular cycl es (34.1 +/- 3.0 vs. 9.0 +/- 9.4 days, p<0.05). However, no relation was fo und between susceptibility to infections and menstrual status. Copyright (C ) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.