Heart Rate, Blood Pressure, Rate Pressure Product in Young Healthy Females at Three Time Points of Menstrual Cycle: Associations with Cycle Length and Body Weight

Introduction: The menstrual cycle exerts profound cyclical effects on the functioning of the reproductive and cardiovascular systems in health and disease. Cyclical changes in the cardiovascular system due to the menstrual cycle are less studied compared with those in the reproductive system. There exist significant lacunae and conflicting findings in the literature regarding the effect of the menstrual cycle on the cardiovascular system. Hence, this study investigated cyclical variations in cardiovascular parameters across the menstrual cycle. Aim: To assess cardiovascular parameters across different menstrual phases and correlate them with cycle length and body weight in healthy young females. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Physiology, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India, from July 2018 to June 2024. A total of 73 regularly menstruating healthy females aged 18-24 years with cycle lengths of 21-35 days were included. Women with menstrual abnormalities, chronic illness, or those on any medications were excluded from the study. Heart Rate (HR), Blood Pressure (BP), and body weight were measured daily throughout the cycle at the same time of day. Three data points were collected: preovulatory, ovulatory, and postovulatory phases, at 21st, 14th, and 7th days preceding the last day of the cycle, respectively. Data were analysed using statistical tests appropriate for repeated measures. The Type I error was set at 0.05, and p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean heart rate significantly differed (p-value<0.001) among the three days, with the highest values in the postovulatory phase. Differences were also observed in the Rate Pressure Product (RPP) with p-value=0.0254. Systolic Blood Pressures (SBP) and Diastolic Blood Pressures (DBP) significantly correlated with body weight in each phase (p-value<0.001). Conclusion: Cardiovascular parameters varied across the menstrual phases and showed different correlations with cycle length and body weight. These findings may guide personalised drug therapy and lifestyle modifications.