Background: Studies on strokes associated with dysmenorrhea are limited. We conducted a propensity-score-matched retrospective cohort study to assess the risk of stroke in women with primary dysmenorrhea (PD).
Methods: From the claims data of one million people in Taiwan's insurance program, we identified 18,783 women aged 15-40 years, newly diagnosed with PD in 2000-2010, without a history of stroke. We randomly selected a comparison cohort without stroke history and dysmenorrhea, with the same sample size matched by age, index date, and propensity score. We began a follow-up with individuals one year after cohort entry to the end of 2013 to capture stroke events.
Results: The two study cohorts were well-matched for age and comorbidities, with 54% of women aged 15-24. Stroke incidence was 1.5-fold higher in the PD cohort than in the comparison cohort (6.05 vs. 4.01 per 10,000 person-years, or 99 vs. 65 cases), with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.51 (95%CI 1.11-2.06) after adjustment for matched pairs. Nearly 70% of strokes were ischemic strokes, which occurred 1.6 times more frequently in the PD cohort than in the comparison cohort (4.40 vs. 2.71 per 10,000 person-years, or 72 vs. 44 cases), aHR = 1.61 (95% CI 1.11-2.33), after adjustment for matched pairs. The incidence of hemorrhagic stroke was also higher in the PD cohort than in the comparison cohort (1.65 vs. 1.29 per 10,000 person-years, or 27 versus 21 cases), but the difference was not significant.
Conclusion: Women of reproductive age with PD are at increased risk for ischemic stroke.
Keywords: dysmenorrhea; propensity score; retrospective cohort study; stroke.