Postmenopausal bleeding after COVID-19 vaccination

General practitioner consultation for postmenopausal bleeding after COVID-19 vaccination-a self-controlled cohort study

AIMS

The incidence of postmenopausal bleeding (PMB) has been increasing over the past years. Little is known about the risk of PMB after COVID-19 vaccination. Our study aimed to investigate this based on routine general practitioner (GP) healthcare data from the Netherlands.

METHODS

A retrospective self-controlled cohort study was performed, which included women aged ≥50 years who received at least 1 COVID-19 vaccination in 2021 and were registered in the GP databases of Nivel (the Nivel Primary Care Database, Nivel-PCD) or PHARMO by 1 January 2021. GP consultations for PMB in the exposed period (28 days after each COVID-19 vaccination) were compared with the nonexposed period (all-time outside the exposed period). Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were calculated using Poisson regression, adjusting for SARS-CoV-2 infection during the study follow-up period.

RESULTS

A total of 692 760 COVID-19 vaccinated women aged ≥50 years were included. No increased GP consultations for PMB was observed for all COVID-19 vaccines together, as well as when stratifying the results by vaccine type (mRNA vs. vector) and vaccine brand (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson). After the second Moderna dose an adjusted IRR of 1.47 (95% confidence interval: 0.93-2.32) was observed and after the third Pfizer/BioNTech dose an adjusted IRR of 1.33 (95% confidence interval: 0.92-1.93); however, these results were not statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

No increased number of GP consultations for PMB in primary care was observed after COVID-19 vaccination in general, nor for any of the COVID-19 vaccine brands, vaccine doses or potential risk groups.

Abnormal uterine bleeding diagnoses and care following COVID-19 vaccination

BACKGROUND

There is evidence suggesting that COVID-19 vaccination may be associated with small, transitory effects on uterine bleeding, possibly including menstrual timing, flow, and duration, in some individuals. However, changes in health care seeking, diagnosis, and workup for abnormal uterine bleeding in the COVID-19 vaccine era are less clear.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on incident abnormal uterine bleeding diagnosis and diagnostic evaluation in a large integrated health system.

STUDY DESIGN

Using segmented regression, we assessed whether the availability of COVID-19 vaccines was associated with changes in monthly, population-based rates of incident abnormal uterine bleeding diagnoses relative to the prepandemic period in health system members aged 16 to 44 years who were not menopausal. We also compared clinical and demographic characteristics of patients diagnosed with incident abnormal uterine bleeding between December 2020 and October 13, 2021 by vaccination status (never vaccinated, vaccinated in the 60 days before diagnosis, vaccinated >60 days before diagnosis). Furthermore, we conducted detailed chart review of patients diagnosed with abnormal uterine bleeding within 1 to 60 days of COVID-19 vaccination in the same time period.

RESULTS

In monthly populations ranging from 79,000 to 85,000 female health system members, incidence of abnormal uterine bleeding diagnosis per 100,000 person-days ranged from 8.97 to 19.19. There was no significant change in the level or trend in the incidence of abnormal uterine bleeding diagnoses between the prepandemic (January 2019-January 2020) and post-COVID-19 vaccine (December 2020-December 2021) periods. A comparison of clinical characteristics of 2717 abnormal uterine bleeding cases by vaccination status suggested that abnormal bleeding among recently vaccinated patients was similar or less severe than abnormal bleeding among patients who had never been vaccinated or those vaccinated >60 days before. There were also significant differences in age and race of patients with incident abnormal uterine bleeding diagnoses by vaccination status (Ps<.02). Never-vaccinated patients were the youngest and those vaccinated >60 days before were the oldest. The proportion of patients who were Black/African American was highest among never-vaccinated patients, and the proportion of Asian patients was higher among vaccinated patients. Chart review of 114 confirmed postvaccination abnormal uterine bleeding cases diagnosed from December 2020 through October 13, 2021 found that the most common symptoms reported were changes in timing, duration, and volume of bleeding. Approximately one-third of cases received no diagnostic workup; 57% had no etiology for the bleeding documented in the electronic health record. In 12% of cases, the patient mentioned or asked about a possible link between their bleeding and their recent COVID-19 vaccine.

CONCLUSION

The availability of COVID-19 vaccination was not associated with a change in incidence of medically attended abnormal uterine bleeding in our population of over 79,000 female patients of reproductive age. In addition, among 2717 patients with abnormal uterine bleeding diagnoses in the period following COVID-19 vaccine availability, receipt of the vaccine was not associated with greater bleeding severity.