AB1384-HPR THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN QUALITY OF LIFE, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL AND MENSTRUAL PAIN IN TURKISH WOMEN

Abstract

Background Dysmenorrhea, defined as menstrual pain, is one of the common chronic pelvic pain problems associated with mussculoskeletal symptoms. 1 Dysmenorrhea is considered as a lower abdominal or pelvic pain appears just before and/or during menstruation and lasts about 2448 hours.2 It is a common condition with prevalence rates between 50% and 91% in women. The daily life of women with menstrual pain can be adversely affected by pain and pain accompanying symptoms.3 It is seen that these effects are mostly on the quality of life (QoL) of individuals. In addition, physical activity of individuals may be restricted due to menstrual pain.4 Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between quality of life, physical activity level and the severity of menstrual pain in Turkish women. Methods 336 female cases aged over 18 years and with menstrual pain complaint in the majority of menstrual cycles were included in the present study. Menstrual pain severity was assessed by 0-10 point Visual Analogue Scale.5 Physical activity level was assessed by the “International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form” and the score was expressed in Metabolic Equivalent Task minutes per week. Total score of the short form included walking, moderate level activity and duration (minutes) and frequency (days) of sufficiently active. The quality of life of was assessed by the “Nottingham Health Profile”. It consists of six parts: pain, physical activity, energy, sleep, social isolation and emotional reaction. The maximum score on any section is 100. The higher the score on any section the greater the number and severity of perceived problems in that area. Normality testing was performed on all data. Spearmans correlation was performed to identify correlation between menstrual pain score and other measures. Results The average age and body mass index of 336 participants were 223 years and 21,42,8 kg/m2, respectively. There was a significant correlation between quality of life and menstrual pain severity (r=0.350; p:0.006). There was no significant correlation between physical activity level and menstrual pain severity (p>0.05). Conclusion Based on the results of the present study, quality of life seems to be related with menstrual pain. On the other hand, no relationship was identified between the physical activity level and menstrual pain. In order to determine the exact relationship, further studies with larger samples and with more varied levels of physical activity are needed.