The impact of menstrual symptoms on woman’s daily activities in Latvia

Introduction and objectives: Menstrual symptoms such as dysmenorrhea and heavy menstrual bleeding are known to be common among the general population. It has been shown that one in three women needed to quit their daily activities due to symptoms caused by menstrual symptoms. Our aim was to obtain the presence of interfering menstrual symptoms and their impact on daily activities. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, internet-based survey among 900 women aged 18 - 55 years, was conducted from October to July 2020. The questionnaire consisted of the presence of troublesome menstrual symptoms, medications used to relieve symptoms, impact on daily activities. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 26. Results: Menstrual symptoms that interfered with daily activities were noted among 87% (n =778) of surveyed women. Dysmenorrhea was the most common symptom (83.3%), followed by heavy menstrual bleeding (48.6%). Pain during the menstrual period was rated on a scale of one to ten with an average score of 7.4. A statistically significant association was determined between increased pain intensity and younger age.