ObjectivesTo explore the prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea (PD), the characteristics of PD and self-care strategies for managing PD among Chinese college girls.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingChangsha, China.ParticipantsA total of 2555 college girls were recruited using multistage cluster random sampling.Outcome measuresA self-report questionnaire was used to measure sociodemographic information, characteristics of PD and self-care strategies for managing PD. Additionally, a Visual Analogue Scale was used to measure pain severity.ResultsOf the 2555 girls, 1306 had experienced PD, representing a 51.1% prevalence. In addition, the prevalence rates of mild, moderate and severe pain in PD were 18.1%, 27.7% and 5.4%, respectively. The most common symptoms associated with PD were cramps (96.9%), weakness (70.0%), backache (65.1%), facial blemishes (55.3%) and irritability (55.3%). Commonly used self-care strategies for managing PD comprised reducing physical activity (94.6%), keeping warm (84.6%), communicating dysmenorrhea with friends or classmates (79.0%), drinking warm beverages (75.7%) and avoiding cold drinks and foods (74.2%). In addition, only 34.8% self-medicated with Western medicine (15.6%), traditional Chinese medicine (8.6%), or both (10.6%). Medical advice was sought by 27.4% of subjects from a Western medical doctor (10.3%), a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (13.6%), or both (3.5%). Girls who had greater pain severity were more likely to be self-medicated (OR=7.01; 95% CI 4.50 to 10.91), use complementary therapies (OR=2.64; 95% CI 1.70 to 4.10) and seek medical advice (OR=5.93; 95% CI 3.80 to 9.24).ConclusionsPD is highly prevalent among Chinese college girls, with a high burden of symptoms. In addition, these girls are most likely to change their lifestyle, communicate dysmenorrhea with friends or mothers, use heat therapy and engage in self-talk, but less likely to self-medicate or seek medical advice for managing PD.

To address the gap, that is, few studies have explored the influence of the participants’ interactions with one another during construction quality supervision, this paper proposes a system dynamics model based on evolutionary game theory to describe the complex and dynamic interactions among tripartite stakeholders in China, including the project owner (PO), construction supervising engineer (CSE), and construction contractor (CC). First, the replicated dynamic equation set is established in terms of expense targets. Second, the equilibrium solutions of the equation set are obtained to test strategy options. The trends of system fluctuations caused by penalty and reward changes are also analyzed. Finally, the stability of the proposed model is improved by integrating a dynamic penalty–reward scenario into the evolutionary strategy of the PO. Simulation results show that: 1) the evolutionary stable strategy does not exist in initial interactions, 2) the degrees of penalty and reward considerably affect the CC’s rate variable, and 3) the dynamic penalty–reward scenario could effectively improve the stability of the proposed model. The unsteadiness of the quality supervision system and the stability control scenario could help in understanding the impact of interactions among stakeholders and provide suggestions for optimizing quality supervision procedures.

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