An observational study in Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Heavy Menstrual Bleeding and Hypermobility Syndrome (Disorder), sponsored by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Terminated at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 12 Years to 40 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-28.
Sponsored by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital · Observational
In this study, researchers want to learn about the connection between heavy bleeding issues and joint hypermobility (loose joints). They want to know if these issues may indicate other connective tissue problems in girls and women with heavy menstrual bleeding who do not have a known cause.
Primary Objective
Secondary Objectives
Patients will be eligible for inclusion and offered to be screened for enrollment in this study if the duration of their menses was greater than or equal to 7 days, and they reported either "flooding" or bleeding through a tampon or napkin in 2 hours or less with most periods, have no identifiable bleeding disorder, and have evidence of severe iron deficiency anemia (hemoglobin \< 8 g/dL).
Once enrolled, joint hypermobility will be evaluated using a Beighton score which will be used to assign participants to two groups: with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS). Participants will then undergo a detailed clinical examination to further classify them using the 2017 diagnostic criteria and complete symptom questionnaires. Finally, participants will be consented to TBANK (NCT01354002) and INSIGHT HD (NCT02720679) to provide a sample of leftover blood for banking for future research. Participants will be seen annually for the next 3 years as part of their standard of care to document the course of their symptoms.
Visit 1: Self-BAT Questionnaire, Beighton Score examination, 2017 hEDS examination, PROMIS (Peds/Parent) questionnaire, PHQ15 questionnaire, COMPASS31 questionnaire, Menstrual distress questionnaire (ENDOPAIN), and Heavy menstrual bleeding checklist (both pediatric and adult).
Visit 2: Self-BAT Questionnaire, PROMIS (Peds/Parent) questionnaire, PHQ15 questionnaire, COMPASS31 questionnaire, Menstrual distress questionnaire (ENDOPAIN).
Visit 3: Self-BAT Questionnaire, PROMIS (Peds/Parent) questionnaire, PHQ15 questionnaire, COMPASS31 questionnaire, Menstrual distress questionnaire (ENDOPAIN).
Please note: At the present time patient enrollment is limited to St. Jude established patients only.
28 studies on the registry are indexed under Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type 3; 9 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 15 is below the median of 39 across 12 observational studies indexed under Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type 3.
Browse Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type 3 studies →St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is the lead sponsor of 440 studies on the registry; 102 are open to participants now.
Of its 61 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 37 (61%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Participants who meet the Eligibility criteria and consent
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Medical conditions that could cause HMB but are not necessarily a bleeding disorder, including, but not limited to:
If the participant answers "yes" to any of the following questions, they are ineligible:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants with heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB)
Participants without heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB)
Severity of bleeding symptoms in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS): Self-Bleeding Assessment Tool (Self-Bat)
Summary statistics of bleed score including mean, median, standard deviation and range will be reported for women with and without G-HSD/hEDS. The Self-BAT which consist of 14 categories for assessing bleeding symptom will be used. Each of the 14 variables is scored from 0-4 (except CNS bleeding when the scores are 0, 3 and 4) and on the basis of this a final score is derived. Scores of ≥ 3 in children, ≥ 4 in adult males and ≥ 6 in adult females is considered abnormal.
Time frame: Yearly for 3 years
Number of patients with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS).
The number of patients with G-HSD/hEDS will be reported
Time frame: Approximately 3 years
Proportion of patients with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS).
The proportion of patients with G-HSD/hEDS will be reported
Time frame: Approximately 3 years
Co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS) - PHQ15
Investigators will compare co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS) using PHQ 15. The PHQ-15 is a subscale of the full Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and screens for 15 somatic symptoms. It scores symptom presence and severity on a 3-point Likert scale (0-2). The total score ranges from 0-30 with higher values indicating increased severity as follows: Minimal (0-4); Low (5-9); Medium (10-14); High (15-30).
Time frame: Yearly for 3 years
Co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS): Peds Patient-reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) 49 and Parent Proxy 49
Investigators will compare co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS) using Peds PROMIS 49 and Parent Proxy 49. The Peds PROMIS 49 is self-reported measures of global, physical, mental, and social health for children (ages 8-17) in the general population and those living with a chronic condition. The Parent Proxy 49 is intended for parents serving as proxy for their child (youth ages 5-17). PROMIS scores are reported as T scores ranging from 0-100. A higher PROMIS T-score represents more of the concept being measured. For negatively-worded concepts like Anxiety, a T-score of 60 is one SD worse than average. By comparison, an Anxiety T-score of 40 is one SD better than average. However, for positively-worded concepts like Physical Function-Mobility, a T-score of 60 is one SD better than average while a T-score of 40 is one SD worse than average.
Time frame: Yearly for 3 years
Co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS): PROMIS 57
Investigators will compare co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS) using adult PROMIS 57. The PROMIS 57 is for self-reporting measures of global, physical, mental, and social health for adults in the general population and those living with a chronic condition. PROMIS scores are reported as T scores ranging from 0-100. A higher PROMIS T-score represents more of the concept being measured. For negatively-worded concepts like Anxiety, a T-score of 60 is one SD worse than average. By comparison, an Anxiety T-score of 40 is one SD better than average. However, for positively-worded concepts like Physical Function-Mobility, a T-score of 60 is one SD better than average while a T-score of 40 is one SD worse than average.
Time frame: Yearly for 3 years
Co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS): Compass 31
Investigators will compare co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS) using COMPASS31. The COMPASS31 contains 31 questions with Likert scales ranging in length from 2 to 6 items with higher scores indicating increased severity. COMPASS31 provides raw scores and standardized scores providing a total weighted score (0-100) of severity. The scale yields 6 subscales and a total score as follows: Orthostatic intolerance (4-10), Vasomotor (3-6); Secretomotor (4-7); Gastrointestinal (12-28); Bladder (3-9); Pupillomotor (5-15); Total (31-75)
Time frame: Yearly for 3 years
Co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS): Menstrual Distress Questionnaire
Investigators will compare co-morbidities in women with and without Generalized joint Hypermobility Syndrome Disorder/ hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (G-HSD/hEDS)using the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire. This is a 21-element survey (ENDOPAIN 4D) which measures the gynecological and pelvic pain symptoms associated with periods. Each question is on a 11-point Likert scale with higher scores reflecting more severe symptoms or symptoms that most closely resemble the description.
Time frame: Yearly for 3 years
This study is terminated, as verified in Jan 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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