The bleeding time in women

A sex difference in the bleeding time has been reported. To investigate the effects of the different sex hormones, the bleeding time (BT) and hemostatic factors related to it were measured in 209 healthy women: 50 pregnant, 113 menstruating and 46 post-menopausal. The serum levels of estrogens, progesterone and testosterone were distributed as expected for the different groups. There were no significant differences in the BT between any of the groups. No correlations between the BT and female or male sex hormones were found. The findings indicate that although sex hormone mediated effects on platelet/endothelial cell interactions may exist, they do not become evident within the physiological variations in the BT of healthy women.