The Relationship between Dysmenorrhea and Shift Work in Thai Nurses
Keywords:
Dysmenorrhea, Menstrual symptom, Shift workAbstract
Background: Dysmenorrhea is a common health problem among reproductive women, and may affect female nurse experiencing stress from their occupation. Mostly, nurses were employed on shift work involving night work which may disrupt hormone production due to circadian rhythms changing.
Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between dysmenorrhea and shift work in Thai nurses.
Method: The prospective correlational design was used to investigate the occurrence and intensity of dysmenorrhea. One hundred and sixty-one, 20-45 year old. Thai nurses were recruited from four hospitals in Bangkok. Data related to occurrence and intensity of menstruation were obtained, for two consecutive menstrual cycles by the use of the Women’s Daily Health Diary (DHD). Binary logistic regression was used to identify shift work and dysmenorrhea.
Results: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea in Thai nurse was 36.5%. The most common associated symptoms were abdominal pain or discomfort (78%), backache (76.3%), fatigue (66.1%), general aches (59.3%), irritability (59.3%), rapid mood change (55.9%), headache (50.8%), increased appetite (45.8%), increased food intake (45.8%), craving for specific food (44.1%), diarrhea (42.4%), decreased appetite (33.9%), and impatient (32.2%). About sixty four percent of nurses had work schedule both day and night shift and 36.3% worked only day shift. There is no statistically significant relationship between dysmenorrhea and shift work in Thai nurses.
Conclusion: Not only dysmenorrhea, but also other associated symptoms could affect on women for each month. Although the association between dysmenorrhea and shift work in nurses was not found, the nurse who affected from dysmenorrhea should be concerned.
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