Female Athlete Health, Performance, and Menstrual Cycle Monitoring in Competitive Sports

Abstract

The health and performance of female athletes are shaped by physiological factors that male athletes
do not experience, the most distinctive of which is the menstrual cycle. For many years the cycle
was treated as a complication to be avoided in research rather than a variable to be understood, and
as a result female athletes have often trained without guidance on how their cycle affects them. This
study examined the awareness and practice of menstrual cycle monitoring among female
competitive athletes and the perceived impact of the cycle on their training, performance and
recovery. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among one hundred and eighty
female competitive athletes aged eighteen years and above in the north coastal districts of Andhra
Pradesh. A structured questionnaire gathered information on menstrual characteristics, monitoring
habits, awareness of female-athlete health issues and the perceived effect of the cycle across its
phases. Percentage analysis, mean, standard deviation, the chi-square test and the Friedman test
were used in the analysis. The findings show that menstrual dysfunction was common, that
systematic monitoring was practised by only a minority, and that awareness of broader female-
athlete health concerns such as low energy availability was limited. Regular monitoring was
significantly associated with better awareness and management of menstrual health, and the
perceived impact on performance differed significantly across the phases of the cycle, being
greatest during menstruation and the premenstrual phase. The study concludes that structured
menstrual cycle monitoring and dedicated education are needed to protect the health and support
the performance of female athletes.