Symptoms-Based Phenotypes Among Women With Dysmenorrhea: A Latent Class Analysis.
Chen X Chen, Susan Ofner, Giorgos Bakoyannis and 2 others
PMID 28914180WHAT IT FOUND
Women with dysmenorrhea fell into three symptom profiles: mild localized pain, severe localized pain, and multiple severe symptoms.
The multiple-symptom profile was associated with headaches, neck pain, pelvic pain outside menstruation, and Black or Hispanic race or ethnicity.
Key findings
01Three symptom profiles were identified: mild localized pain (202 women, 26.5%), severe localized pain (412 women, 54.1%), and multiple severe symptoms (148 women, 19.4%).
02The multiple severe symptoms phenotype was associated with older age, Black or Hispanic race or ethnicity, fewer years with dysmenorrhea, headaches, neck pain, and pelvic pain outside menstruation.
03Diagnoses of endometriosis or uterine fibroids were not significantly associated with any phenotype.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional and descriptive, so it reports symptom profiles and associations rather than treatment effects. Only women aged 18 to 49 who used the internet were included, so the findings may not apply to adolescents or people without internet access. Symptoms were self-reported and could be affected by recall bias. Participants were recruited from online panels, which could create self-selection and coverage bias. Some factors that could distinguish phenotypes may have been omitted. Endometriosis and uterine fibroid analyses were unstable because few women reported these diagnoses and some were not laparoscopically confirmed. Race data were missing for 50 participants, though excluding them did not change the findings. The age association with the multiple severe symptoms phenotype was small, and its clinical meaning is unclear.
Declared interests
The supplied metadata lists research support from NIH extramural and non-U.S. government sources; the text does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these phenotypes to choose a treatment now. The study describes self-reported symptom clusters in a cross-sectional survey and does not test treatment response.