The menstrual cycle and football: The experiences of African women football players

ABSTRACT

Background

The menstrual cycle is a normal biological process in women and girls. However, it is often the reason why they tend to be excluded from football medicine research. Consequently, our understanding of the menstrual cycle and football performance is still limited, especially in African women football players.

Aim

The study aimed to explore African women football players’ current and historical menstrual cycle status, menstrual symptoms, lived experiences, and perceptions of the menstrual cycle.

Methods

Women football players at the COSAFA Women's Championship 2020 completed demographic questionnaires and the Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire.

Results

The main findings were that 90% of the players did not use contraceptives, . Most of the players had access to their preferred choice of sanitary product; however, 36% used alternatives such as old rags during their periods, . The most commonly reported symptoms during menses were abdominal cramps (53%), headache (41%), mood swings (41%) and irritability (47%). Further, players reported irritability (48%), mood swings (52%), and breast tenderness (48%) in the week before their period.

Conclusion

The low use of contraceptives is likely due to community level socio-cultural factors. While the use of old rags as impromptu sanitary products is likely because they cannot always afford their preferred choice. Menstrual symptoms can affect training and competition; therefore, team support personnel should be aware of the menstrual cycle’s implications for African women football players and their effect on athletic performance and well-being. Additionally, team support personnel ought to be mindful of African women football players’ socio-economic and religio-cultural contexts and their interaction with biological processes such as the menstrual cycle and contraceptive use.

KEYWORDS:

• menstrual cycle
• women’s football
• female African football players
• low and middle-income setting
• moos menstrual distress questionnaire

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Solomon Mudege for facilitating the conduct of this research. The authors also acknowledge the Local Organising Committee of the 2020 COSAFA Women’s Championship for their assistance in carrying out this study. Additionally, the authors are grateful to the team medical personnel and football players of the participating teams for their help with collecting the data in this study, and their participation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Conceptualisation of study- NSM, FC, FMG, LMT; Sourcing of funding- NSM; Data collection and recording- NSM, SBD; Data analyses- NSM; Critical revision of manuscripts and approval of final draft- NSM; FC; SBD; FMG, LMT; Senior author- NSM

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Faculty of Medicine Research Ethics Committee, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe (MSUFMEC 0001/10/20).

Data sharing statement

Individual, de-identified data collected in the study will be made available following publication, for aims approved in the proposal and upon reasonable request to the corresponding author on [email protected]. These data will be available for 3 years after publication.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Zurich, Switzerland