Validity of a 10-Item Menstrual Quality-of-Life Measure in Women With Heavy Menstrual Bleeding.

Background and aim Heavy menstrual bleeding, which is a common gynecological condition, has a detrimental effect on a woman's physical, psychological, and social well-being. With its high prevalence, it is underdiagnosed due to the reliance on subjective assessment and the absence of validated tools in many populations. A 10-item questionnaire was used to assess the impact of menstrual symptoms on quality of life (QOL). Few tools evaluate the effect of heavy menstrual bleeding on quality of life using the pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBAC) and assess the validity of a translated menstrual quality-of-life questionnaire in the local population. This study aimed to determine the effect of heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), using the PBAC, on women's quality of life and to assess the validity of the translated version of the menstrual quality-of-life questionnaire in our population. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of six months in the gynecology outpatient department. A total of 330 women aged 18-50 years diagnosed with heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) were recruited through non-probability consecutive sampling. HMB was defined as a PBAC score ≥100 supported by hemoglobin levels. Demographic variables, clinical features, and the translated 10-item questionnaire were included in the structured proforma used for data collection. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 23 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). Results On average, participants were 40.25±5.69 years old, with a hemoglobin level of 9.80±1.22 g/dL and a PBAC score of 266.04±86.21. The most prevalent cause of HMB was leiomyoma/fibroid, accounting for 51.8%. The mean quality-of-life score was 35.16±4.06, suggesting considerable detriment to quality of life. A severe impairment was observed in 80.9% of women. The translated PERIOD-QOL tool demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.606). A weak but statistically significant positive correlation was observed between PBAC scores and quality-of-life scores (rho=0.167, p=0.002), suggesting that increased menstrual blood loss is associated with poorer quality of life. Conclusion Heavy menstrual bleeding has a significant adverse impact on quality of life among women. The translated 10-item questionnaire demonstrated acceptable internal consistency for assessing quality-of-life impairment in the local population and may facilitate early identification and management of affected women.