Relationships between menstral symptoms, menstrual support function, and self care in female university students

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship of menstrual symptoms with menstruation support function and self care in order to obtain suggestions regarding the acquisition of self care skills for reducing menstrual symptoms in university female students. The modified Japanese version of the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MMDQ) was conducted on female university students regarding menstrual symptoms, menstruation support function and self care, and valid responses from 187 students were analyzed. Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, reliability coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis regarding menstruation support function, 4 factors and 10 items were extracted, overall internal consistency was confirmed, the model showed high goodness of fit and construct validity was also confirmed. Comparison of the implementation or absence of self care and MMDQ scores revealed that students using analgesics had significantly higher scores on the MMDQ. Comparison of the implementation or absence of self care and menstruation support function revealed significantly higher support scores for students implementing self care in the six extracted items, while scores for students who simply tolerated symptoms were significantly lower. These findings suggest the need for an educational system that includes menstruation support in order to encourage students to perform self care.