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Stress and Menstrual Health

Duke University · NCT07566260

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 22–38 · Women only
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
600
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
May 28, 2026
Record last updated
September 9, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

The goal of this experimental study is to determine how stressors that do not directly impact energy state or energy demands (hereafter called "non-energetic stressors") affect reproductive health in pre-menopausal women. It aims to do this by answering the following main questions: Do non-energetic stressors create a stress response? How does the stress response impact sex hormone concentration and thus menstrual dysfunction? If stress caused by non-energetic stressors does impact sex hormone concentration, does it do so primarily at the level of the brain or the level of the ovary? Participants will be enrolled in this study for 6 months. For two of these months, they will undergo a short stress intervention and provide samples to measure hormone concentration and total energy expenditure.

Being studied: Heat stress; Sleep stress; Exercise stress

Conditions: Menstrual Dysfunction

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • Adult pre-menopausal females, 22-38 years old with a BMI of 18.5-30.0
  • Habitually sedentary (less than 60 minutes MVPA/week) for Exercise cohort

Exclusion Criteria

  • Individuals on hormonal birth control (oral contraception, injection, implant, or intrauterine device)
  • Individuals with incidence in the last 6 months of childbirth, lactation, pregnancy, or functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA)
  • Individuals with a BMI \<18.5 or >30.0
  • Individuals with reproductive disorders (e.g. endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS))
  • Individuals taking thyroid medications
  • Individuals who have undergone or are undergoing menopause
  • MVPA >60 min/week (for Exercise cohort)

Recruiting US locations

  • Duke University

    Durham, NC 27708

    Site contact: Mary Joy · 7249317802 · mary.joy@duke.edu

All women’s health studies in North Carolina →
Stress and Menstrual Health (NCT07566260) | Bored Studies