Case-control study, 2019
Are suicide deaths more common during certain phases of the menstrual cycle?
Women who died by suicide were more likely to be in the secretory or menstrual phase of their cycle compared to women who died from other causes. The reason for this association is not known.
What they did
Doctors examined the uterus and ovaries during autopsy of 86 women who died by suicide and 80 women who died from other causes, all of reproductive age. They determined which phase of the menstrual cycle each woman was in at the time of death based on tissue examination.
What they found
Among women who died by suicide, 56.9% were in the secretory phase. In women who died from other causes, 66.3% were in the proliferative phase. Suicide deaths were more common in the secretory and menstrual phases compared to the proliferative phase.
What it means for you
A woman's menstrual cycle phase appears related to suicide risk, particularly during the secretory and menstrual phases. The reason is unknown. A limitation is that this is an observational study using autopsy records.
86
women who died by suicide
80
women who died from other causes
56.9%
in secretory phase among suicide group
About the study
- Original title
- Association of menstruation cycle with completed suicide: a hospital-based case-control study
- Authors
- Behera C, Sikary AK, Mridha AR et al.
- Journal
- Archives of women's mental health
- Year
- 2019
- Study design
- Case-control study
- Participants
- 86
- What was tested
- N/A
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s00737-019-00964-6