Effect of oral contraceptives intake on postural stability in young healthy women throughout the menstrual cycle

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of oral contraceptives on static postural stability in young healthy women during their menstrual cycle. Twenty-three women with the regular menstrual cycle, using or not using oral contraceptives, participated in this study. Salivary progesterone and estradiol levels were measured during one menstrual cycle. Measurements of balance were performed during a quiet stance on a firm and foam surface by the force platform, with eyes either opened or closed, on day 2, 7, 14, 21 and 28 of the cycle. Results of stability on a firm surface with eyes opened showed a significant effect in the amplitude of body sway in the anterior-posterior direction since women using oral contraceptives had a lower amplitude compared to control women on day 28. During stance on a firm surface with eyes closed we showed only impact of the menstrual cycle on postural stability of women. In condition of stance on foam surface with the eyes opened or closed no significant effects were found. Our results showed that oral contraceptives intake can improve the static postural stability before the onset of menstruation and decrease a risk of injury of young healthy women.

The Specificities of Elite Female Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Approach

“…Many studies have shown variations in postural instability over the MC, but the results have been discrepant based on task difficulty mainly [ 16 , 187 , 188 , 191 , 192 , 193 , 194 , 195 , 196 , 197 , 198 , 199 ]. Overall, the researchers assumed that, as the main structures contributing to balance are influenced by hormonal fluctuations, differences in balance would be seen over MC unless adaptive mechanisms take place [ 200 ].…”

“…Only a few studies have looked at COC women, showing stabilization of posture or a better balance for COC users [ 194 , 206 , 207 ]. The consistent lower limb dynamics of COC users might demand less reliance on the neuromuscular control apparatus to acutely alter feed-forward strategies during dynamic tasks.…”

“…More instability in EaF [ 187 , 193 , 194 ] or reverse [ 188 , 191 , 192 , 195 , 196 , 199 ], with instability found if task is sufficiently difficult (either the task or a change in sensori-input)…”

Postural sway is not affected by estrogen fluctuations during the menstrual cycle

“…Some groups have reported changes in balance over the course of the menstrual cycle during “more challenging” tests, for example eyes closed in combination with unstable surfaces and tandem foot position in which one foot is in front of the other (Petrofsky & Lee, 2015). While it is possible we would have seen differences if we had used other balance-related testing protocols, there are also studies that report changes in balance metrics using methods that are similar to those we used (eyes closed and standing on a firm surface) over the course of the menstrual cycle (Mokošáková et al, 2018), as well as studies that do not report changes using dynamic balance tasks (Ericksen & Gribble, 2012).…”

“…A number of studies have reported that postural control changes over the course of the menstrual cycle (Darlington et al, 2001; Maged et al, 2017; Mokošáková et al, 2018; Petrofsky & Lee, 2015; Sung & Kim, 2018; but see Ericksen & Gribble, 2012), generally reporting decreases in balance-related measures with higher levels of estrogen. In conjunction with observations about the timing and prevalence of certain knee and ankle injuries (Wojtys et al, 2002), these findings have been interpreted as indicative of increased injury risk and been taken as evidence supporting the prophylactic use of oral contraceptives to decrease musculoskeletal injury risk in eumenorrheic people.…”