Table 3.

Published studies on IBD and the menstrual cycle

Study	Study design	No. studied, UC/CD/control	Age (range in years)	Menstrual phase	Methods	Findings
Kane et al. [52] 1998	Retrospective	49/49/90	20–48	Pre- and during menses	Questionnaire	1) IBD group reported a cyclical pattern to menstrual cycle more often than controls
						2) Diarrhea: most common symptom reported
Parlak et al. [62] 2003	Prospective	38/21/38	30–47	Menstrual cycle	Diary	1) UC and control groups reported more GI symptoms during menses
						2) CD symptoms worse pre-, and during menses compared to postmenses
Bernstein et al. [63] 2012	Retrospective	87/151/156	18–65	Pre-, and during menses	Questionnaire	1) CD and UC groups more likely to experience diarrhea during menses
						2) Premenstrual phase- CD patients more likely to report worsening of their IBD symptoms than UC and control
Lim et al. [11] 2013	Prospective	27/13/44	33–43	Menstrual cycle	Questionnaire	GI symptomatology worse during menses in IBD and control groups

CD = Crohn’s disease; IBD = inflammatory bowel disease; UC = ulcerative colitis