Beliefs About Dysmenorrhea and Their Relationship to Self‐Management

Abstract

Dysmenorrhea is highly prevalent and is the leading cause of work and school absences among women of reproductive age. However, self-management of dysmenorrhea is not well understood in the US, and little evidence is available on factors that influence dysmenorrhea self-management. Guided by the Common Sense Model, we examined women's representations of dysmenorrhea (beliefs about causes, symptoms, consequences, timeline, controllability, coherence, and emotional responses), described their dysmenorrhea self-management behaviors, and investigated the relationship between representations and self-management behaviors. We conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey of 762 adult women who had dysmenorrhea symptoms in the last six months. Participants had varied beliefs about the causes of their dysmenorrhea symptoms, which were perceived as a normal part of life. Dysmenorrhea symptoms were reported as moderately severe, with consequences that moderately affected daily life. Women believed they understood their symptoms moderately well and perceived them as moderately controllable but them to continue through menopause. Most women did not seek professional care but rather used a variety of pharmacologic and complementary health approaches. Care-seeking and use of self-management strategies were associated with common sense beliefs about dysmenorrhea cause, consequences, timeline, and controllability. The findings may inform development and testing of self-management interventions that address dysmenorrhea representations and facilitate evidence-based management. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

What women say about their dysmenorrhea: a qualitative thematic analysis

“…The study reported here was part of a larger, cross-sectional survey of women with dysmenorrhea that included both quantitative and qualitative data [23]. The quantitative portion of the study examined self-management behaviors and is described elsewhere [23].…”

“…The quantitative portion of the study examined self-management behaviors and is described elsewhere [23]. Participants of the larger survey were recruited from a list of survey panel registrants (Qualtrics, Provo, UT) who were willing to be contacted for surveys [24].…”

Reasons women do not seek health care for dysmenorrhea

“…The parent study, which has been described in detail elsewhere, focused on dysmenorrhea self-management behaviors (Chen et al, 2016). …”

“…Most studies have failed to fully explain variance in women’s dysmenorrhea health care seeking (Chen et al, 2016; White & Wildman, 1986). For example, in one study of 383 college students enrolled in introductory psychology classes, symptom severity accounted for only 2% of the variance in seeking medical care (White & Wildman, 1986).…”

Clinical and social aspects of dysmenorrhea development

“…It is worth mentioning, that usually menstrual pain syndrome is not a reason to visit a gynecologist. Self-treatment using medicines which are advertised on TV or in fashion magazines is more popular among women than consultation by a doctor on this particular pathology [10,11]. Unfortunately, such patients do not realize all the problems that may be associated with pain syndrome.…”