Objective: Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder associated with numerous health problems, including reproductive disorders. This study was performed to analyze the association between CD and the menstrual cycle in a group of patients with CD and compare these patients' characteristics with those of healthy women.
Methods: The study included 145 patients with CD (age, 15-51 years) and 162 healthy women (age, 18-55 years). Age at menarche and characteristics of the menstrual cycle were obtained by an anonymous questionnaire developed for the study.
Results: The age at onset of menarche was 12 to 14 years in 72.9% of the patients with CD and 77.3% of the healthy controls. For most patients (74.2%), the length of the menstrual cycle was around 27 to 28 days with 4 to 5 days of bleeding. Furthermore, 8.4% of patients versus 5.9% of controls experienced bleeding between cycles.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that in Slovenia, the age at menarche in patients with CD is 12.7 years, which is comparable with that in healthy women. We conclude that CD (treated or untreated) may not be associated with late menarche.
Keywords: Celiac disease; Slovenia; children and adolescents; menarche age; menstrual disorders; questionnaire.