ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SYMPTOMS OF PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA, PHYSICAL FUNCTIONS AND WORK PRODUCTIVITY

Background: Primary dysmenorrheal (PD) due to its high prevalence is considered health issue since it affects different aspects of life including physical functions and work productivity. Objective: To find association between symptoms of primary dysmenorrheal, physical functions and work productivity. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional survey 99 subjects with primary dysmenorrhea was conducted. Numeric pain rating scale, daily record of severity of problems (DRSP) for overall symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea, short form-36 for physical function and role limitation were used to collect data. Simple linear regression was used to explore the relationship among variables. Results: Mean age and age at menarche were 21.06±2.59 and 13.15±1.03 years respectively. The results showed that pain had significantly negative association with physical function (r=-0.20, p=0.02) but insignificantly associated with role limitation due to physical health(r=0.08, p=0.20). The symptoms of primary dysmenorrhoea on DRSP also showed significant negative association with physical function(r=-0.36, p=0.00), role limitation due to physical health(r=-0.18, p=0.03) and positively associated with productivity or efficiency (r=0.64, p=0.00) on DRSP scale. Physical function was also positively associated with role limitation due to physical health (r=0.42, p=0.00). Conclusion: the study concluded that pain reduces the physical functioning in primary dysmenrhea. The overall symptoms of primary dysmenohea also reduce physical functioning, role limitation due to physical health and work related productivity and efficiency. Keywords: Primary dysmenorrhea, physical function, physical health, DRSP, Numeric pain rating scale.