Influence of Menstrual Cycle on Pulmonary Function Tests in First Year Female Medical Students

The physiological changes in the levels of various hormones during different phases of menstrual cycle not only affects reproductive system but also affect various other functions in the body.

To demonstrate the variations in pulmonary functions tests during different phases of the menstrual cycle.

This observational study was conducted on the selected first year female medical students of mediciti institute of medical sciences, ghanpur, Hyderabad, telangana India. Sixty first year female medical students who were admitted to the course with a regular menstrual cycle of 28 ± 3 days were selected. We measured various pulmonary function tests on three different phases of menstrual cycle (menstrual phase, 1–4 day); (proliferative phase, 6–13 th day); and (secretory phase, 14–28 th day).

In the values obtained from pulmonary function tests, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) showed an increase in the mid-secretory phase (p < 0.001); FEV1/FVC ratio was elevated in the mid-secretory phase (p = 0. 026); and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) also showed an increase in the secretory phase (p = 0.001). These parameters were low in menstrual phase and decreased in the proliferative phase when compared with the secretory phase.

This study was aimed as an effort to analyse, how the regular dynamic changes occuring during different phases of menstrual cycle influence pulmonary function tests parameters, in normal healthy female subjects because some large epidemiological studies suggest that lung functions fluctuates during the menstrual cycle.