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Dysmenorrhea among Japanese women
Author(s) -
Ohde S.,
Tokuda Y.,
Takahashi O.,
Yanai H.,
Hinohara S.,
Fukui T.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of gynecology and obstetrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.895
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1879-3479
pISSN - 0020-7292
DOI - 10.1016/j.ijgo.2007.06.039
Subject(s) - medicine , epidemiology , prospective cohort study , cohort study , cohort , physical therapy , obstetrics
Objective: To investigate the epidemiology of dysmenorrhea in Japanese women of menstrual age. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted using a health diary in a sample representative of Japanese women. Information on health care use was also collected. Results: Among 823 enrolled participants (age range, 18–51 years), dysmenorrhea (mean duration 1.75 days; range 1–5 days) was reported in 15.8% (95% CI, 13.3–18.3) during the 1‐month study period. Common associated symptoms included headache (10.77%), back pain (6.92%), and fatigue (5.38%). No participant with dysmenorrhea visited a physician, while 51.5% of the women used self‐medication, and 7.7% used complementary/alternative medicine. Conclusion: Dysmenorrhea is common in Japanese women. In our study, about half used self‐medication, while some preferred complementary/alternative medicine. Dysmenorrhea is significantly associated with younger age and employment status.