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In an analysis of 3.4 million women under age 40, researchers in Japan found a strong association between menstrual-related disorders (ie, endometriosis or dysmenorrhea) and diagnosed sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Among the 257,897 women with these conditions, STI diagnoses were consistently 4.31–5.29 times more common than among women without the disorders, as published in PLOS One. Genital chlamydia infection showed the largest absolute difference, affecting 3.53% of women with menstrual-related disorders compared with 0.67% of those without. Gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, and genital herpes were also substantially more common. The strongest association occurred in women with endometriosis—4.98% (4,810 of 96,863) had a chlamydia diagnosis. Among women with dysmenorrhea, 3.20% (7,609 of 237,727) had a chlamydia diagnosis.
Population health: The authors conclude that women with endometriosis or dysmenorrhea may represent an important population for STI screening, noting that the study is one of the first to comprehensively examine the association between menstrual-related disorders and STI diagnoses among young women using large-scale claims data.