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Original Articles

Burden of menstrual symptoms in Japanese women: results from a survey-based study

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Pages 1255-1266 | Accepted 30 Jul 2013, Published online: 10 Sep 2013
 

Abstract

Objective:

Menstrual symptoms are associated with various health problems in women and may also significantly impact their lives. This study aims to assess the current burden of menstrual symptoms in Japanese women.

Methods:

Two online surveys were conducted among women aged 15–49 years, where sampling was designed to approximate the age and geographic distribution in Japan. The first survey collected data on menstrual symptom severity based on a modified, 35-item, Japanese version of the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (mMDQ), current treatments, and impact on work productivity. The second survey collected costs of outpatient treatment within the previous 3 months. Additional outcomes of the second survey will be presented in a separate paper.

Results:

In this study, 19,254 women had menses, with 74% suffering from menstrual symptoms. A total of 50% reported pain and 19% reported heavy bleeding. Increasing severity of menstrual symptoms and self-reported heavy bleeding were related to more outpatient visits and greater work productivity loss. Among subjects with heavy bleeding, increasing severity of symptoms was related to greater interference with daily life. The estimated annual economic burden extrapolated to the Japanese female population was 683 billion Japanese Yen (JPY) or ∼8.6 billion United States Dollars (USD).

Limitations:

The study population may be biased due to the online survey method.

Conclusions:

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large-scale research assessing outcomes by severity categories for all menstrual symptoms and women’s perception of bleeding. A large proportion of women suffer from menstrual symptoms, and symptom severity impacts women’s lives. Menstrual symptoms lead to significant economic burden, mainly due to work productivity loss. However, the majority of women do not visit a gynecologist, even when their menstrual symptoms are severe. Thus, increasing public awareness on the recently available medical treatments has the potential to improve the overall burden of menstrual problems.

Transparency

Declaration of funding

This study was sponsored by Bayer Yakuhin Ltd, Osaka, Japan. The TrueNavi internet research service is fielded by Nomura Research Institute. All survey data were collected and provided by Nomura Research Institute. Bayer Yakuhin Ltd developed the study concept and design in collaboration with Nomura Research Institute, contributed to the interpretation of study results, and drafted and edited the manuscript.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

All authors contributed important intellectual content, including important discussions on the interpretation of study results, and critical revision of the manuscript. Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd. provided funding to Nomura Research Institute to conduct the study. E. Tanaka, B. Rossi, K. Nomoto, M. Hayakawa, and E. C. Y. Wang are salaried employees of Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd. K. Kokubo is a salaried employee of Nomura Research Institute. M. Momoeda and Y. Osuga have received fees for consulting from Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd. All authors approved the final draft for submission and take full and final responsibility for the contents of the article. JME Peer Reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professor Yasuki Kobayashi and Professor Kenji Shibuya from Tokyo University for kindly providing their intellectual insights on the interpretation of results from the public health perspective. The authors would also like to thank Ms Etsuyo Ogawa from Bayer Yakuhin Ltd for her invaluable support during the conduct of the study, and Ms Kuri Kobayashi and Mr Kenji Adachi, also from Bayer Yakuhin Ltd, for their review of the manuscript drafts.

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