Comparing dysmenorrhea beliefs and self-management techniques across symptom-based phenotypes.
Sarah Katherine Rogers, Kevin L Rand, Chen Xiao Chen
PMID 33761154WHAT IT FOUND
Women with multiple severe dysmenorrhea symptoms held more negative beliefs and used more medication, complementary and non-medication self-management techniques than women with localized pain.
Assess beliefs and prior treatments before advising.
Key findings
01Women with multiple severe symptoms reported more negative beliefs about dysmenorrhea consequences, timeline, severity, and emotional response, and more positive beliefs about CAM, than women with localized pain phenotypes.
02Women with multiple severe symptoms used more types of medication, CAM, and non-medication self-management techniques than women with severe localized or mild localized pain.
03The belief that medication is harmful or overused did not differ significantly among the three phenotypes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Responses were self-reported and required recall of previous menstrual and pain experiences, which may have influenced symptom severity and number of techniques reported. The sample was recruited from online survey panels and all participants were Internet users over 18, so results may not generalize to teenagers or women without internet access. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether beliefs influenced symptom phenotype or symptom phenotype influenced beliefs. Comorbid gynecological and chronic pain conditions were not controlled in the analyses. This was a secondary analysis of a convenience sample, not a random population sample.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that asking about beliefs or matching treatment to a phenotype improves dysmenorrhea. The study compared what women believed and used at one time point; it did not test whether any approach reduces symptoms.