Secondary School Girls’ Experiences of Menstruation and Awareness of Endometriosis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Coping with dysmenorrhea: a qualitative analysis of period pain management among students who menstruate

“…Moreover, individuals may only have access to a limited and potentially skewed pool of information, based on their own experiences and/or similar experiences of family members, with which to construct representations of a 'normal' period [10,13]. Constructing accurate representations of dysmenorrhea may be particularly challenging for younger groups, like students, who may not have access to evidence-based sources of menstrual health information from menarche [10,21].…”

“…Insufficient information on menstrual health proves a challenge to menstrual health literacy, defined as the capacity to make decisions based on acquiring, understanding, and processing menstrual health information [ 9 ]. Evidence from Australia [ 8 ], Spain [ 6 ], and the UK [ 10 ] highlights that young individuals demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of menstrual health. Among secondary school students in the UK, Randhawa and colleagues [ 10 ] reported that less than 10% of participants could accurately define endometriosis and, moreover, that approximately 30% could not identify whether their period was regular.…”

“…Evidence from Australia [ 8 ], Spain [ 6 ], and the UK [ 10 ] highlights that young individuals demonstrate gaps in their knowledge of menstrual health. Among secondary school students in the UK, Randhawa and colleagues [ 10 ] reported that less than 10% of participants could accurately define endometriosis and, moreover, that approximately 30% could not identify whether their period was regular. These gaps in menstrual health literacy have been linked to misinformation across a number of aspects of pain management, like the normalisation of severe pain and low help-seeking rates among individuals with dysmenorrhea [ 1 , 6 ].…”

“…Recent publications suggest that most individuals who menstruate do not seek medical advice for severe period pain [ 15 , 17 ] and may be unaware of potential health conditions or effective options to minimise symptoms [ 5 , 10 ]. Help-seeking, which is broadly defined as proactively searching for guidance to address problems [ 18 ], was observed among only 11% of individuals with dysmenorrhea across sixteen countries [ 8 ].…”

“…Individuals with dysmenorrhea may lack awareness and knowledge of menstrual normality, which may impede help-seeking and effective pain management, as dysmenorrhea may not be identified as a legitimate condition [ 6 , 8 , 20 ]. Moreover, individuals may only have access to a limited and potentially skewed pool of information, based on their own experiences and/or similar experiences of family members, with which to construct representations of a ‘normal’ period [ 10 , 13 ]. Constructing accurate representations of dysmenorrhea may be particularly challenging for younger groups, like students, who may not have access to evidence-based sources of menstrual health information from menarche [ 10 , 21 ].…”