| dc.description.abstract | Menstrual irregularities affect the health and
performance of female athletes. The purpose
of this study was to identify the prevalence
of menstrual irregularities and to identify the
factors affecting menstrual irregularities among
Sri Lankan national-level female athletes. The
objective of this research was to identify the
associations among menstrual irregularities and
several factors; body weight, body fat, diet, eating
disorders (ED), psychological stress and Resting
Metabolic Rate (RMR) of athletes. A sample of 205
national-level female athletes between 18-25 years
was selected from 20 competitive sports. “EAT-26”
and “Perceived Stress Scale” questionnaires were
used to identify ED and stress level of subjects,
respectively. A three-day dietary record was
used to determine nutrient intake. Body weight,
body fat and RMR of subjects were also recorded.
Spearman’s rho correlation and binary logistic
regression were conducted to analyse data. Body
weight, ED, stress level, RMR, energy intake and
sodium intake were associated with menstrual
irregularities (p<0.05). Additional analysis
indicated that body weight had relationships
(p<0.05) with body fat, RMR and diet (water,
sodium, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B6 and
folic acid). Further, significant relationships were
observed between body fat and RMR, body fat
and diet (water, sodium), ED and psychological
stress, psychological stress and diet (calcium,
vitamin B12, Iron, Zinc, fat and vitamin B6), and
RMR and diet (carbohydrate and iron). It can be
concluded that factors such as body weight, ED,
stress level, RMR, energy intake and sodium
intake are associated with menstrual irregularities
in Sri Lankan national-level female athletes and
the associated factors are related to each other. | en_US |
