Variables associated with secondary amenorrhea in women runners

Abstract

A study of the relationships among variables associated with oligo‐amenorrhea in 70 healthy female runners, 18–37 years of age, was conducted. The purpose of the study was to re‐examine variables cited previously as being associated with oligo‐amenorrhea using multiple correlation and regression analysis. This analysis of new data provides documentation of interrelationships and possible causal linkages between variables. Seventy‐seven per cent of the runners studied were eumenorrheic while 23 % were oligo‐amenorrheic. Analysis of the data revealed statistically significant correlations between the number of menstrual cycles per year and age, estimated oxygen uptake, training time per mile and percentage body fat. A path model is presented, which indicates that training variables contribute significantly to percentage body fat alterations, which is then related to variation in the number of menstrual cycles. The results are discussed as they related to current hypotheses regarding exercise associated alterations in conditioned women runners.