New Study Suggests Women with Menstrual Disorders Are More Likely to Be Diagnosed with STIs
Key Points
- A new study found that women with menstrual disorders were more likely than women without menstrual disorders to be diagnosed with an STI.
- This study finding doesn’t suggest that having a menstrual disorder puts you at more risk of developing an STI; instead, it just found an association with diagnosis.
- Docs say this link isn’t too surprising and could simply be due to going to the doctor more often and therefore getting tested more frequently.
Having a menstrual disorder like endometriosis or dysmenorrhea can make an already uncomfortable menstrual cycle feel even worse. Not only do you have your period, but such disorders can come with a host of other uncomfortable symptoms like severe pain and bleeding. Now, new research suggests one more potential issue to have on your radar if you have a menstrual disorder: A higher chance of STI diagnosis.
Before we go any farther, it’s crucial to point out that the research doesn’t say that having a menstrual disorder automatically means you’ll get an STI—or anything about STI exposure. Instead, the link is likely a little complicated and relates specifically to diagnoses. Here’s what the research found, plus what ob-gyns recommend taking away from this.
What did the study find?
The study, which was published in PLOS One, analyzed healthcare data from more than 3.4 million women in Japan who had at least one visit to the doctor in 2023. Of those, 257,897 (or 7.5 percent) had a menstrual-related disorder.
The researchers analyzed the data for four different STIs—gonorrhea, genital chlamydia infection, trichomoniasis, and genital herpes—along with other sexually transmitted conditions based on participants’ insurance claims. Researchers discovered that each of the major STIs they looked at was more commonly detected in women with menstrual disorders than those without.
Chlamydia was detected in 3.5 percent of women with menstrual disorders compared to 0.7 percent in women without them. Gonorrhea was diagnosed in 0.9 percent of women with menstrual disorders, while 0.2 percent of women without menstrual disorders were diagnosed.
And women with menstrual disorders were four to five times more likely to be diagnosed with trichomoniasis, genital herpes, and other STIs compared to those without menstrual disorders.
What’s behind this link?
It’s easy to read that and assume that having a menstrual disorder raises the risk of getting an STI. But doctors stress that there is a link between having a menstrual disorder and STI diagnosis—not that one necessarily causes the other.
“I am not surprised that they found this link,” says Adi Davidov, MD, associate chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwell’s Staten Island University Hospital. Christine Greves, MD, an ob-gyn at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies in Orlando, Florida, agrees.
Why? The increase in STI diagnoses may come down to how often someone sees a healthcare provider. “It doesn’t mean that people with menstrual disorders have a higher incidence of getting them or that they by definition are more likely to have STIs,” Dr. Greves says. “It means that people who have concerns with their menses have a higher likelihood of going to the doctor.”
In fact, Dr. Greves says that she commonly checks patients for STIs any time they have pain. “The reason for that is multi-fold—not just to see what is causing their pain,” she says. One example: If an IUD is being considered as part of a treatment plan for pain, it’s important to screen a patient for gonorrhea or chlamydia first, she says. (Having one of these conditions and an IUD increases the risk for pelvic inflammatory disease, among other things.)
There also tends to be an overlap with symptoms of STIs and menstrual disorders, Dr. Davidov says. “The fact that these women are tested more frequently will cause their [STI] rate to be higher,” he says. “Therefore, it is not surprising that women with menstrual disorders end up having STIs more frequently.”
What’s the takeaway?
Dr. Greves says that the messaging is the same: Everyone who is sexually active should be regularly screened for STIs. Don’t neglect testing or seeing a healthcare provider just because you don’t have a menstrual disorder.