Abstract
Introduction: COVID-19 vaccines wide use and mediatization allowed us to observe a wide range of adverse events (AE), among them some were unexpected such as menstrual disorders. Mainly non serious, they can however be a source of anxiety to women experiencing it. In France, 8% of COVID-19 vaccines reported AEs fall in that category. Reports are mostly brief and undocumented. The aim of this study is to better characterize those abnormalities and their impact.Material and methods: The study is based on an online survey addressed to 340 women during summer of 2022 that reported a menstrual disorder after COVID-19 vaccination.Results: A total of 287 women completed the survey (84%). Mean age was 36 years old (min-max: 15–74). Most of them reported 2 or more co-occurring disorders (65%), hence we recorded a total of 652 reactions, 62% of them occurring after first dose. Irregular cycles were the most reported events (22.8%) followed with menorrhagia and delayed menstruations (20.7% each) and finally dysmenorrhea and amenorrhea (16.6% and 10.6% respectively). In this study, 63% of respondents consulted a health professional and two third estimated their condition unresolved at the time of the survey. On a scale from 1 to 10, more than half of patients estimated the anxiety caused by those disorders over 7.Discussion/Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccines-related menstrual disorders could involve multiple mechanisms such as hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis perturbation or quick activation of the immune system following vaccination. Other vaccines have caused similar effects such as influenza vaccines or papillomavirus vaccines [1]. In October 2022, the PRAC recommended that heavy menstrual bleeding should be added to the product information as a side effect of unknown frequency for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Our study did not characterize a specific type of menstrual disorder associated with COVID-19 vaccines but showed a significant impact in the life of women experiencing them.