The Impact of Menorrhagia/Dysmenorrhea on Work Performance

Abstract

Excessive menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia) and painful menstrual periods (dysmenorrhea) affect a substantial proportion of reproductive-aged women and impact their quality of life and work performance due to missed work or limitations in daily activities. This systematic literature review evaluated the impacts of menorrhagia/dysmenorrhea on work performance and identified potential health disparities related to socioeconomic status on the severity of consequences. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL Plus, and PsychINFO databases were searched for relevant articles published between the years 2001 and 2021. The authors synthesized data from studies which described associations between menstrual disorders and work performance, addressed menorrhagia or dysmenorrhea specifically, and contained study samples of employed adult women. The search strategy identified a total of 915 unique titles; 31 articles satisfied the eligibility criteria for full-text review. Twenty-one articles were ultimately included in the data synthesis. For women with menorrhagia/dysmenorrhea, the most common contributors to decreased work performance were absenteeism and decreased work productivity. Unemployment and loss of income were common work-related impacts of these menstrual symptoms. Few studies reported comprehensive demographic or socioeconomic data, and fewer than half of the studies collected any information from participants related to employment. The present literature on the impact of menstrual disorders on work performance is limited. Further investigations are needed to evaluate the disparities of menstruation-related symptoms on work performance based on socioeconomic status and occupational, demographic, and contextual variables.