The effect of menstrual pain and symptoms on activities of daily living and on work absenteeism: A cross-sectional study

Objective: To analyse the prevalence of menstrual pain in women of reproductive age, who use contraception methods or not, as well as its repercussion on their daily life and professional activities. Methods A cross-sectional and descriptive study conducted in July and August 2022. Phone interviews were carried out by means of a random system to select women aged between 15 and 49 years old. The questionnaire included sociodemographic variables, contraception method used and characteristics of the menstrual pattern (pain and bleeding amount), its influence on their working life and if they would need to resort to sick leaves due to the impairments arising from the menstrual symptoms. Results A total of 1,800 women representative of the Spanish population took part in this study. 72.6% of them report menstrual pain, with 45.9% requiring medication. 35.9% identify their menstrual bleeding as intense or very intense. 38.8% assert that menstrual discomforts affect their everyday life. 34.3% would have required not attending their work activities or having requested sick leave due to the discomforts, although only 17.3% of the women finally requested so, mainly because 58.4% considered that it might imply consequences in their professional environment, especially those with Higher Education. The women that report more discomforts are the youngest ones and those that resort to condoms as contraceptive method (p < 0.001). Conclusions Menstrual pain is a prevalent problem among women of reproductive age and can affect their everyday life and professional environment, requiring work leaves on some occasions.