ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2022
'That time of the month' … for the biggest event of your career! Perception of menstrual cycle on performance of Australian athletes training for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of hormone changes over the menstrual cycle on elite athlete performance: meta-analysis and suggested standardised protocol.Reproduction & fertility · 2026Pooled it
- Menstrual cycle hormones and oral contraceptives: a multimethod systems physiology-based review of their impact on key aspects of female physiology.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2023Pooled it
- The Prevalence of Menstrual Cycle Disorders and Menstrual Cycle-Related Symptoms in Female Athletes: A Systematic Literature Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Methodological Considerations for Studies in Sport and Exercise Science with Women as Participants Part II: Guidance for Applied Studies in Elite Female Athletes.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- The Effect of Menstrual Cycle Phase, Symptoms, Motivation, and Readiness to Perform on Resistance Training Performance.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- Menstrual Cycle-Related Symptoms and Disorders and Their Impact on Physical, Psychosocial, and Environmental Determinants of Exercise Performance: A Scoping Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Article
- An Overarching Conceptual Framework for Menstrual Health in Sport Research: Theory, Causality and Validation.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Mood States Across a Competitive Season in Collegiate Female Rowers: A Prospective Observational Analysis.International journal of exercise science · 2026Article
- The Development of a Valid and Reliable Questionnaire to Measure Menstrual Cycle and Hormonal Contraceptive Knowledge Among Athletes and Sports Performance Support Staff.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2025Article
- Taking menstruation health and hygiene seriously: a qualitative exploration of the challenges and facility requirements of female adolescent athletes in Bangladesh.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Menstrual cycles and macrocycles: Science, not socials, is doing the heavy lifting.The Journal of physiology · 2025Article
- DXA-Measured Total and Regional Body Composition in Female Athletes with a Physical Impairment.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- The impact of menstrual cycle phase and symptoms on sleep, recovery, and stress in elite female basketball athletes: a longitudinal study.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Empowering the Sports Scientist with Artificial Intelligence in Training, Performance, and Health Management.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The associations between calorie tracking, body image dissatisfaction, eating disorders, and menstrual cycle characteristics in resistance-trained athletes.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2024Article
- Menstrual cycle tracking in professional volleyball athletes.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- "I hardly have a problem […] I have my period quite rarely too": Female football players' and their coaches' perceptions of barriers to communication on menstrual cycle.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Article
- Do Recreationally-Trained Women of Different Ages Perceive Symptoms of the Menstrual Cycle and Adjust Their Training According to Phases?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: This study explored the perceived effect of the menstrual cycle (MC) on the performance of Australian female athletes, preparing for the Tokyo Olympic and/or Paralympic Games. Methods: 195 female athletes, nominated by 24 National Sporting Organisations as preparing for the Tokyo Olympic and/or Paralympic Games, completed an online questionnaire ('MCq perceptions'). The MCq perceptions investigated menstrual symptoms, hormonal contraceptive (HC) use and a preferred competition window within the MC. Results: Two-thirds (65.6%) athletes reported that their MC affected their performance; in training (65.6%) compared with competition (58.0%).Aesthetic-sport athletes were most likely to perceive their performance to be affected by their MC (RR=1.40) compared with endurance (RR=0.88) and strength-sport (RR=1.04) athletes. Athletes experiencing three or more symptoms were twice as likely to identify as affected. Athletes who reported pain (RR=1.89) or the use of analgesia (RR=1.45) were more likely to identify as affected by their MC.A preferred competition window was identified by athletes as 'just after your period' (41.5%). For athletes not using HC, this window was identified by 53.7%. Conclusion: In Australia, elite-female athletes perceive their MC to affect their performance, and many have a preferred performance window. Performance-focused strategies should be created for 'affected' athletes, aiming to provide these athletes with education, and where appropriate, control over predictability, timing and symptoms of their MC.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.