Depression in Adolescent Females With Heavy Menstrual Bleeding.

Objective To assess the degree to which heavy menstrual bleeding is associated with depression, independent of hormonal contraception. Study design We performed a retrospective cohort study of 1168 females 9-18 years old presenting to general pediatricians for HMB or well visits. Depression was the primary outcome and defined as a diagnosis in the health record. Univariable and multivariable regression models were fit to the data to identify factors associated with depression diagnosis. Results 581 adolescents with HMB and 587 without HMB were included. Depression diagnoses occurred with greater frequency in youth with HMB compared with those without HMB (50.9% vs 24.2% p Conclusion HMB is associated with depression diagnosis in adolescent females. Use of hormonal contraception was not associated with depression diagnosis in multivariable analysis, covarying HMB, age, BMI, anxiety, sexual activity, and substance use. As hormonal contraception is often used to treat HMB, HMB may be partially driving previous reports of increased depression risk in those taking hormonal contraception.