Dysmenorrhea Exploration in Teenagers, Their Parents and Caregivers

Dysmenorrhea

Endometriosis, severe dysmenorrhea, pain, teenagers, pediatric, qualitative research, focus group, patient care management

Teenagers experimenting severe dysmenorrhea also face age-specific challenges, particularly impacting their self-confidence, self-esteem, and relations. On one hand, the study team will conduct focus group interviews to better understand the experience of teenagers and their parents consulting pediatric services for severe dysmenorrhea. On the other hand, they will conduct focus group interviews with caregivers from services that usually encounter such patients (gastrologic, gynecologic and pain services). This, allowing to later propose specific tools and healthcare organization to evaluate and accompany teenagers suffering from severe dysmenorrhea.

Endometriosis is a complex disease that remains underdiagnosed (7 to 9 years delay), and incorrectly treated. While endometriosis was at first considered as a condition affecting adult women, since the early 2000s, literature has described more and more cases of adolescent patients, with frequently atypical presentations. Indirect prevalence estimates ranging from 25% to 100% in adolescents' girls with pelvic pain. Moreover, Arruda et al. indicate that adolescents girls arrive after a delay in diagnosis which has a significant impact on the progression of the disease and on their confidence in the medical listening and understanding abilities. However, the pain induced by dysmenorrhea has a profound impact on everyday life of and are frequently responsible for school missing as shown in the RESENDO survey. By conducting a qualitative analysis based on focus groups, the main objective of the study is to describe as faithfully and extensively as possible the experience of teenage patients and their parents consulting for severe dysmenorrhea, and delineate factors potentially improving or hindering care engagement. The study utilizes a qualitative method as a tool to have a better understanding of this population, a population increasing in pediatric gynecology services or pain management consultations. Gathering their words, their views on their symptoms and its repercussions, and their main issues, will enable to build a relationship of trust with caregivers, better address the broad problematic, and identify risk factors.

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