Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Feb;311(2):341-346.
doi: 10.1007/s00404-024-07617-9. Epub 2024 Jul 4.

A pilot longitudinal study of decrease in cognitive functions during the most painful day of the period among women with primary dysmenorrhea

Julia Kluska  1 , Ewa Malinowska  2 , Joachim Kowalski  3
Affiliations

A pilot longitudinal study of decrease in cognitive functions during the most painful day of the period among women with primary dysmenorrhea

Julia Kluska et al. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: Painful menstruation is a common problem associated with many limitations in day-to-day functioning. There is limited research on the temporary effects of menstrual pain on cognitive functioning.

Methods: A longitudinal pilot study was conducted. A group of 32 women was tested with the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT), which consists of 7 tests measuring various cognitive functions. Participants were tested both on a regular, pain-free day and the most painful day of their period.

Results: The subjects displayed significantly lower results in several domains of cognitive functions during measurement on the most painful day of the period. We observed a decline in inhibitory and cognitive control, attention functioning and processing speed.

Conclusions: The results provide tentative evidence for experiencing cognitive difficulties under the influence of menstrual pain and may contribute to raising awareness about related difficulties.

Keywords: Attention; Cognitive assessment; Cognitive control; Menstrual pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical approval: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw. Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ayadilord M, Mahmoudzadeh S, Hoseini ZS, Askari M, Rezapour H, Saharkhiz M, Abbaszadeh A, Karbasi S, Zandi Dashtebayaze N, Ferns GA, Bahrami A (2020) Neuropsychological function is related to irritable bowel syndrome in women with premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea. Arch Gynecol Obstet 302(4):915–923 - PubMed
    1. Barnard K, Frayne S, Skinner K, Sullivan L (2003) Health Status among Women with Menstrual Symptoms. J Womens Health 12(9):911–919 - PubMed
    1. Dawood M. (2009) Dysmenorrhea. The Global Library Of Women's Medicine
    1. Farage MA, Osborn TW, MacLean AB (2008) Cognitive, sensory, and emotional changes associated with the menstrual cycle: a review. Arch Gynecol Obstet 278(4):299–307 - PubMed
    1. Faul F, Erdfelder E, Lang AG, Buchner A (2007) G* power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav Res Methods 39(2):175–191 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources