Changes of mood and anxiety during the menstrual cycle with use of oral contraceptives

Hormonal action is one of the main factors for behavioral change observed in women, during the menstrual cycle, and especially in the premenstrual period, most women report a variation of mood and anxiety. The aim of this work was to verify the degrees of anxiety during the menstrual cycle, charting their variation and the possible influence of oral contraceptive use. For this purpose 32 women, divided in two groups according to the use (B) or not use (A) of oral contraceptive, with selfapplication of the STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) at three different times: before, during and after menstruation. The data was tabulated and analyzed statistically, indicating a variation of anxiety level for different menstrual periods, but with no significance as to anxiety type (trait or state) or to the ingestion of contraceptive. For Trait-Anxiety, the post-test (Boferroni T-Test) of variation among periods indicated significant difference for post-menstrual and other periods, in the A group; and between the premenstrual and menstrual periods, in the B group. For State Anxiety, the data indicated significant differences between the premenstrual and menstrual periods, in the A group, and between the premenstrual and menstrual periods and the menstrual and post-menstrual in the B group. The results indicate that: 1) the menstrual cycle is a generator of variations of related anxiety; 2) the use of oral contraceptives does not alter this relation; and 3) the correlated diminution of the Trait Anxiety may indicate alteration in self-perception of women during the menstrual cycle. Keywords: anxiety; mestrual cycle; STAI.