The prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea among students and its association with musculoskeletal and myofascial pain

ObjectivesTo examine the association between dysmenorrhea and musculoskeletal pain amongst university students aged 20–35 and the association between dysmenorrhea and the occurrence of MTrPs.MethodsThe study comprised two stages: a cross-sectional study evaluated the association between dysmenorrhea and musculoskeletal pain and a case-control study evaluated the association between dysmenorrhea and the occurrence of MTrPs in the abdominal and pelvic area. Initially, questionnaires such as demographics, menstruation characteristics, Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), measuring the average pain during menstruation and Nordic, were distributed to female students. Twenty subjects who suffered from menstrual pain of >3 on the NPRS (ones with the highest scores) were included in the second stage as cases. An additional 20 who had not suffered from menstrual pain (NPRS ≤3) were considered controls. All 40 subjects underwent an assessment of MTrPs by two examiners blinded to each other's results and to the group allocation of the subjects.ResultsWe found that dysmenorrhea is a very prevalent condition among young female students. Most frequent complaints were: lower abdomen and back pain, tiredness, breast tenderness, mood changes, and an increased appetite. Pain during menstruation indicated a significant positive association with neck, low back, and hip/thigh pain during the last 12 months. The results of the palpitation conclusively showed more active MTrPs in the rectus abdominis, quadratus lumborum and paraspinal muscles in women suffering from pain during menstruation than in those who were not in pain.ConclusionOur data provide an initial basis for the inclusion of a myofascial examination when evaluating women with dysmenorrhea.