[Effect of competitive sports on the menstrual cycle and sexuality--results of a survey of the West German team for the Olympic games in Los Angeles].
The present investigation attempts to analyse exact data on the menstruation cycle, contraception and the sexual behavior of competitive sportswomen. Since the West German participants at the Olympic Games of 1984 in Los Angeles were chosen for this investigation, the patients are unquestionably highly selected. For this reason, the results cannot claim to be representative in all respects. The objective of this study was primarily to register and to analyse the gynecological aspects of women's competitive sport, to reveal interrelationships and if appropriate to point out disadvantageous tendencies. The Olympics participants were subdivided into five different groups on the basis of the type of sport: I. take-off power/speed II. anaerobic endurance III. aerobic endurance IV. technique/dexterity V. team games. A control group was formed of middle-distance and long-distance runners. The data were analysed with regard to competitive sport and age, number of days of training and training minutes per week, menarche, duration and length as well as intensity of menstrual bleeding, menstruation symptoms, influence of menstrual bleeding on sport performance, dependence of peak performance on the menstruation cycle, sexual behavior, contraception behavior.