Serum Markers of Inflammation and Endothelial Function are Elevated by Hormonal Contraceptive Use but not by Exercise-Associated Menstrual Disorders in Physically Active Young Women

Table 1. Characteristics of female athletes with menstrual disorders (MD), regular menstrual cycles (E), or hormonal contraceptive (HC) users. Data are means (±SD) or median and range.

	MD ^a (n = 10)	E ^b (n = 13)	HC ^c (n = 16)
Age (yrs)	22.7 (3.2)	21.1 (3.8)	23.2 (3.54)
Menarchal age (yrs)	13.4 (1.5)	13.8 (1.7)	13.0 (1.3)
Weight (kg)	54.2 (6.1) ^b	62.2 (7.8) ^a	61.8 (8.1) ^a
Height (m)	1.66 (.05)	1.68 (.05)	1.67 (.06)
BMI (kg·m^-2)	19.6 (1.7)^b	22.0 (2.2) ^a	22.2 (2.4) ^a
Body fat (%)	18.2 (3.7) ^b	20.4 (5.2) ^a,c	23.2 (4.4) ^a
Lean body mass (kg)	41.3 (5.5)	46.4 (5.8)	45.1 (5.8)
Menstrual cycles per year	4 (3) ^b	12 (1) ^a	12 (1) ^a
Missed menstrual cycles (since menarche)	47 (16-57) ^b	4 (0-21) ^a	3.5 (0-36) ^a
Months on hormonal contraceptives	12 (0-84) ^c	0 (0-120) ^c	78 (36-192) ^a,b
Physical activity (hrs·wk^-1)	11.2 (3.9)	9.2 (3.0)	11.7 (6.0)
Physical activity energy expenditure (kcal·d^-1)	622 (237)	604 (213)	596 (220)

Superscripts denote significantly (p < 0.05) differences between the groups.