Cycles and Strains
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Influence of the Menstrual Cycle on Muscle Injuries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51224/SRXIV.528Keywords:
Female Athlete, Follicular Phase, Injury Occurrence, Luteal Phase, Oestrogen, Team SportAbstract
Objective: This systematic review aimed to explore the association between menstrual cycle phases and the occurrence of muscle injuries in female team sport athletes.
Design: The systematic review and meta-analysis followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines, supplemented by PERSiST guidance.
Data Sources: Three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus) were searched from inception to mid-January 2024. The search terms included keywords related to muscle injuries and menstrual cycle phases.
Eligibility Criteria for Selecting Studies: Included studies involved female team sport athletes of reproductive age with regular menstrual cycles and needed to compare muscle injury events across at least two menstrual cycle phases. Exclusion criteria included the use of hormonal contraceptives or medications that affect the menstrual cycle or the musculoskeletal system, as well as menstrual dysfunction.
Results: Three studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing injury data from 318 participants. Meta-analysis revealed a pooled Risk Ratio (RR) of 1.18 (95% CI: 0.75 to 1.86, p = 0.46) for muscle injury occurrence between luteal and follicular phases, indicating no significant association. Certainty of cumulative evidence was assessed to be ‘very low’ due to methodological limitations
Conclusion: This review found no statistically significant relationship between menstrual cycle phases and muscle injuries. However, the robustness of the findings is limited by methodological issues, such as inconsistent phase classifications and reliance on inaccurate methods for identifying menstrual cycle phases. Future research employing standardised, physiologically accurate methods for classifying and detecting menstrual cycle phases is necessary to understand better the potential links between hormonal fluctuations and injury risk.
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