Why the study?
Limiting vascular function testing in premenopausal females to low-hormone phases may limit data regarding their predominant physiological state and threaten external validity.
Restricting vascular research in premenopausal women to low-hormone phases threatens external validity and should be avoided unless specifically required by the research question.
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Excluding high-hormone phases in premenopausal vascular studies risks limited external validity; challenges restrictive conventions and leaves optimal inclusion protocols open.
Many studies of vascular function limit the testing of premenopausal female participants to periods when female sex hormones, either endogenous or exogenous, are at their lowest concentration. This practice, when not part of the specific research question, may limit data surrounding the predominant physiological state of premenopausal females and pose a threat to external validity. In this Perspective, we briefly review the literature on the effect of female sex hormones on vascular function and discuss when limiting experimental testing to a certain phase of the menstrual cycle or oral contraceptive use may be appropriate. The goal of this Perspective is to open a dialogue that may enhance data validity and the overall understanding of vascular function in premenopausal females.
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Turner et al. (2020) studied this question.
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