None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Dysmenorrhea is the most common gynecological disorder experienced by menstruating women. Dysmenorrhea in the absence of pelvic abnormality is termed primary dysmenorrhea (PD). The health burden, social and economic cost of PD is high as it is reported to be the leading cause of recurrent absenteeism from school or work in adolescent girls and young adults. The efficacy of physiotherapy and complementary therapies such as acupuncture, acupressure, transcutaneous electrical stimulation, spinal manipulation, and heat therapy for PD have been extensively evaluated in experimental studies but the efficacy of exercise is poorly understood. The belief that exercise works for relieving symptoms in women with PD is based on anecdotal evidence and non-experimental studies. Moreover, there is very limited evidence high quality evidence to support the use of exercise to reduce the intensity and severity of menstrual pain/cramps. This clinical trial will therefore evaluate the effectiveness of exercise to reduce intensity and severity of pain in women with PD. The experimental hypothesis is that a treatment program consisting of aerobic training, strengthening and stretching exercises would be effective in reducing the menstrual pain and severity among women with Primary dysmenorrhea
Interventions
Participants will undergo vigorous aerobic training on a treadmill for 30 minutes at 70-85% of their maximum heart rate. Treadmill training will be preceded by warm-up exercises for 10 minutes and followed by cool down exercises for 10 minutes, including stretching for mid and lower back muscles and abdominal strengthening. The training sessions will be administered and supervised by a trained physiotherapist on a one-on-one participant basis at School of Physiotherapy (SoP), University of Otago
Participants will undergo vigorous aerobic training on a treadmill for 30 minutes at 70-85% of their maximum heart rate. Treadmill training will be preceded by warm-up exercises for 10 minutes and followed by cool down exercises for 10 minutes, including stretching for mid and lower back muscles and abdominal strengthening. The training sessions will be administered and supervised by a trained physiotherapist on a one-on-one participant basis at School of Physiotherapy (SoP), University of Otago. Frequency of intervention will be for 3 days a week for three weeks for a maximum of 50 minutes each session. On completion of intervention at SoP, participants will be required to continue at home, the walking/jogging program for 30 minutes, and warm up and cool down stretching and strengthening exercises for 10 minutes each, three times a week, in 3 week blocks between menstrual periods for the next 6 months. Attendance will be taken at every session at SoP, in order to monitor adherence to intervention programme. Adherence to home exercise programme will be monitored with the use of exercise adherence diary.
Sponsors
Catherine Chapple
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 43 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Non-pregnant women 18-43 years with general good health with primary dysmenorrhea (PD); not on formal exercise programme; women with regular menstrual cycles and having no pelvic abnormality; PD with pain scoring greater than or equal to 4 on a 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS) for at least two consecutive months.
Exclusion criteria
Women with secondary dysmenorrhea; women having intra uterine devices; women on oral contraceptives and hormonal therapy and; women with menstrual cycle interval exceeding 34 days.
Outcome results
None listed