Management of Primary Dysmenorrhea among University Students in the South of Spain and Family Influence

Abstract

The present study analyses the management of primary dysmenorrhea by university students in the south of Spain. In this cross-sectional observational study, 224 women participated, using an ad hoc self-report questionnaire about menstrual pain and self-care and including sociodemographic and gynecological variables. Some 76.8% of participants consumed analgesics and the majority self-medicated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) without consulting a health professional, with a correlation between pain intensity and the number of pills ingested during menstruation (r = 0.151, p < 0.05). The higher proportion of women who found their analgesia effective were those who took medication after being prescribed by a health care provider (60.8%) compared to those who self-medicated (40%; p < 0.01). Only 43.8% employed non-pharmaceutical methods, most commonly antalgic positions, massages and local heat. These choices were not related to the intensity of menstrual pain nor with the severity of the dysmenorrhea, nor did these most common methods prove to be the most effective. However, a higher percentage of women using non-pharmacological methods was identified in women with family members suffering from dysmenorrhea (73.2%) compared to those without (60%; p = 0.040), which may indicate that the choice of remedies is more related to learning self-care in the family context. This study identifies the need for education on self-care and management of menstrual pain.

Living with Restrictions. The Perspective of Nursing Students with Primary Dysmenorrhea

“…Purposeful sampling was carried out, selecting participants for their capacity to provide relevant information in response to the research questions [26]. The inclusion criteria consisted of: (a) nursing students enrolled in the University of Huelva (https://enfe.acentoweb.com/) during the study period, (b) PD: who acknowledged experiencing menstrual pain for which no underlying cause had been diagnosed [7,31], (c) suffering from menstrual pain at least once in the last six months, with at least three periods per year [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], (d) moderate-severe pain intensity based on the visual analogue scale (VAS equal to or greater than 4 out of 10 [8,32,33], (e) for at least the three cycles prior to the study [34,35], (f) with normal menstrual characteristics in terms of cycle length, duration of menstruation, quantity and regularity. Normal menstrual characteristics were considered to be periods occurring every 24 to 38 days, on a regular basis, with bleeding that lasts 4.5 to 8 days, and 5 to 80 mL blood loss per cycle [36][37][38], and (g) not being a candidate for requesting diagnostic tests due to suspicion of suffering secondary dysmenorrhea or any other diagnosed pelvic or gynaecological problem based on the recommendations of the Primary Dysmenorrhea Consensus Guideline of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the Committee Opinion on Adolescent Health Care Dysmenorrhea and Endometriosis in the Adolescent developed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists [5,34,39].…”

“…Previous studies show that some non-pharmacological methods, such as exercise and local heat are effective in preventing and alleviating pain [10,11]. However, certain studies point to self-medication as a habitual strategy of pain management without consulting a healthcare professional [12,13].…”

Why Do Some Spanish Nursing Students with Menstrual Pain Fail to Consult Healthcare Professionals?

“…Several studies to date have examined the management of menstrual pain and problems surrounding self-medication, primarily among young women [2,17,34]. However, a knowledge gap exists in Spain regarding why women from different regions fail to consult health professionals for these issues.…”

Living with Pain and Looking for a Safe Environment: A Qualitative Study among Nursing Students with Dysmenorrhea

“…At present, there are few international studies [25][26][27] and none in Spain, to describe and analyze the perspective and experience of young female students suffering from dysmenorrhea and how it influences their daily lives. Previous studies carried out in different countries agree that a large number of women of different ages normalize their condition and do not seek health care [14,28,29], which contrasts with other studies highlighting that dysmenorrhea negatively affects women's quality of life; in the case of university students, it has an impact on academic performance and is related to absenteeism and presenteeism [1,23]. The majority of nursing students are young women, and therefore as such, they potentially experience menstrual pain.…”

“…Some authors have related PD to psychogenic aspects [10]; however, it is currently associated with biochemical alterations, such as an excess secretion of prostaglandins and vasopressin, in a complex context involving the immune, endocrine, and vascular systems [2,[10][11][12]. The most commonly used treatment is non-steroidal analgesics and anovulatory drugs; also, self-medication is common [5,13,14]. In addition, SD is related to the presence of a pelvic pathology that causes the symptoms, most often endometriosis.…”