Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Dysmenorrhea is defined as pain during menstruation and might be caused by increased endometrial prostaglandin production. It is a highly prevalent medical condition (45–95% of women internationally) which can be part of a woman’s reproductive life. Throughout the literature, dysmenorrhea has been shown to affect daily functioning such as socialization, work and academic performance during menstruation and quality of life. However, dysmenorrhea and its impact in Greek women had not been investigated yet.

Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and the impact of its severity on daily functioning in a sample of nursing students at a Greek University.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted recruiting 637 nursing students via convenience sampling at a university in Athens. Appearance, severity (mild, moderate or severe pain) and the impact of dysmenorrhea were assessed by administering a questionnaire which included a 10-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of pain magnitude.

Results: The majority of students (89.2%) reported experiencing pain during menstruation. Only severe dysmenorrhea was reported to affect daily functioning in situations that can be avoided (all ps < .05). However, functioning in situations that cannot be avoided (clinical placement and exam attendance) were less affected by dysmenorrhea no matter its severity (ps > .1).

Conclusions: Dysmenorrhea is highly prevalent among nursing students in Greece and its severe form seems to affect important aspects of daily and academic functioning. However, the situations that cannot be easily avoided (exam and clinical placement attendance) were not affected and future research could further investigate this finding. These findings suggest that there is a need for doctors, nurses and midwives to educate women with dysmenorrhea on recognizing and properly treating and copying with their menstrual pain to alleviate its impact on daily functioning.