Journal of affective disordersJournal Article
01 Jul 2025
We aimed to assess the bidirectional relationship between mental disorders and menstrual irregularities using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.
The analyses were conducted using a two-sample MR method. Analytical tools were derived from large-scale genome-wide association studies, including those on schizophrenia (SCZ, n = 127,906), bipolar disorder (BIP, n = 353,899), major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 674,452), anxiety and stress-related disorder (ASRD, n = 1,096,458), irregular menses (n = 196,550), excessive menstruation (n = 144,388), and dysmenorrhea (n = 114,540). Inverse variance weighting was used for the two-sample MR analyses, while sensitivity analyses were performed using MR-Egger, weighted median, and simple median methods.
MDD and ASRD were associated with an increased risk of irregular menses (P < 0.05); however, no reliable outcomes were found regarding the relationship between SCZ, BIP, and the three types of menstrual irregularities (P > 0.05). Furthermore, ASRD was also associated with an increased likelihood of excessive menstruation and dysmenorrhea (P < 0.05). However, the relationship between MDD and excessive menstruation was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Dysmenorrhea was associated with an increased risk of MDD and ASRD (P < 0.05).
This study provides strong evidence supporting the associations between ASRD and the three types of menstrual irregularities, as well as between MDD and irregular menses and dysmenorrhea.
Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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