ArticleF&S reviews2025
The Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign: a comprehensive review.
Article in F&S reviews, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Plasma proteomic signature of the human menstrual cycle.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Monitoring Menstrual Health in Footballers: Considerations for Tracking Menstrual and Hormonal Contraceptive Cycles in the Field to Support Performance.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- A Review of the Potential Therapeutic Benefits of Quercetin for Uterine-Related Conditions.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- The menstrual cycle through the lens of a wearable device: insights into physiology, sleep, and cycle variability.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Identifying menstrual metrics as personal health markers: Age trends and individual footprints in temperature across 5674 cycles.Science advances · 2026Article
- Leveraging Menstrual Effluent to Investigate Vitamin D and Human Decidualization: A Potential Link with Fertility.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Associations between self-reported personal care products use and menstrual cycle length and regularity in a US digital cohort.Environment international · 2026Article
- A Foundation Model for Capturing Complexity of Menstrual Health Data.npj women's health · 2026Article
- Gendering the Menstrual Cycle in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026Review
- A longitudinal dataset of physiological, hormonal, metabolic, and self-reported menstrual health data.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Decoding menstrual health across the lifespan: a scoping review of digital health tools in research.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Menstrual cycle patterns in primary care: a structured approach using primary ovarian insufficiency as a sentinel condition.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- The Investigation of Vitamin D and Menstrual Cycles Trial (the inVitD Trial): A clinical trial of vitamin D supplementation on the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis.Contemporary clinical trials · 2026Article
- Decoding menstrual health across the lifespan: a scoping review of digital health tools in research.npj women's health · 2026Article
- Molecular Impact of Metabolic and Endocrine Disturbance on Endometrial Function in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The menstrual cycle is a vital sign across the lifespan.The Lancet. Obstetrics, gynaecology, & women's health · 2025Article
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.
Funding
Abstract
Some medical professional organizations have advocated for including the menstrual cycle as a vital sign in adolescence, but not in adulthood. However, documenting menstrual cycle patterns is not routine clinical or research practice. Vital signs are used to predict health outcomes, indicate needed treatment, and monitor a clinical course. They can help identify pathologies, affirm wellness, and are responsive to exposures. Here we review the scientific evidence showing how the menstrual cycle meets these criteria and should therefore be treated as a vital sign. Using key words and controlled vocabulary terms, we carried out multiple literature searches, prioritizing the inclusion of systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical practice guidelines. This review describes how the menstrual cycle is a health indicator, can cyclically impact health conditions, and its associations with long-term post-menopausal health outcomes. We review exposures influencing the menstrual cycle, evidence underlying its use to optimize wellness, and available tools for documenting cycles. Supplementary materials include patient handouts on menstrual cycle tracking, and an index of related clinical practice guidelines and reviews by subject. The menstrual cycle is a vital sign from menarche through menopause, an underutilized but powerful tool for understanding gynecological and general health.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.