Study Objective

To explore key aspects of menstrual health literacy and menstrual management in young women at school or in tertiary education.

Design

Cross-sectional online survey.

Setting

Australia-wide.

Participants

A total of 4202 adolescent and young women (13-25 years of age; median age 17 years), having reached menarche, living in Australia and currently attending school (n = 2421) or tertiary education (n = 1781).

Interventions

Online survey hosted by Qualtrics between November 2017 and January 2018. Data were collected on contraceptive use, management strategies, sources of information, and knowledge of menstruation.

Main Outcome Measures

Information on prevalence and effectiveness of different management strategies, health-seeking behavior, knowledge about menstruation, and common menstrual disorders such as endometriosis.

Results

The majority of young women did not seek medical advice for their menstrual symptoms, but used information from the Internet (50%) and engaged in self-management, most commonly with over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol (51%) or ibuprofen (52%). Oral contraceptive use was relatively common (35%), and mostly for reduction of menstrual pain (58%). Despite having significant dysmenorrhea, approximately one-half of the participants (51%) thought that their period was normal. Women with higher pain scores were more likely to rate their period as “abnormal” (P < .0001) but not more likely to consult a doctor (P = .13). Only 53% of those at school had heard of endometriosis.

Conclusion

Self-management of menstrual symptoms is common, but a significant minority of women are underdosing or choosing ineffective methods. Most women do not seek medical advice even when symptoms are severe, and cannot identify symptoms suggestive of secondary dysmenorrhea. Improved education on menstruation is vital.

中文翻译：

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澳大利亚年轻女性的月经健康素养和管理策略：全国13至25岁的年轻女性在线调查

研究目的

探索在学校或高等教育中的年轻女性的月经健康素养和月经管理的关键方面。

设计

横断面在线调查。

环境

全澳大利亚。

参加者

共有4202名青春期和年轻女性（13-25岁；中位年龄17岁），达到初潮，居住在澳大利亚，目前正在就读（n = 2421）或高等教育（n = 1781）。

干预措施

由Qualtrics在2017年11月至2018年1月之间进行的在线调查。收集了有关避孕药具使用，管理策略，信息来源和月经知识的数据。

主要观察指标

有关不同管理策略，寻求健康行为，月经知识和常见月经失调（例如子宫内膜异位症）的患病率和有效性的信息。

结果

大多数年轻妇女没有因月经症状而寻求医疗建议，而是使用互联网上的信息（50％）并进行自我管理，最常见的是使用非处方药，如扑热息痛（51％）或布洛芬（52％）。口服避孕药比较普遍（35％），主要用于减少月经痛（58％）。尽管有严重的痛经，但大约一半的参与者（51％）认为他们的月经正常。疼痛评分较高的女性更有可能将其时期定为“异常”（P  <.0001），而就诊的可能性则 较小（P = .13）。在校学生中只有53％听说过子宫内膜异位。

结论

自我管理月经症状是很常见的，但是很少有妇女服用剂量不足或选择无效的方法。即使症状严重，大多数女性也不会寻求医疗建议，也无法识别出提示继发性痛经的症状。改善月经教育至关重要。