Take your health into your own hands

Take your health into your own hands

Take your health into your own hands

Menstrual symptoms reduce productivity in women of childbearing age

katarzyna-grabowska-oA1-rirIJ2E-unsplash
If you think that the physical and psychological discomforts that can accompany the days of menstrual flow and those leading up to it are a minor thing, you are either a man or a very lucky woman. Even when one does not suffer from actual conditions associated with the menstrual cycle such as endometriosis, in fact, the symptoms that most women have to deal with periodically throughout all or part of their fertile lives are quite challenging to endure and manage. Cramps and pain in the lower abdomen, which may radiate to the legs; back pain; nausea and intestinal discomfort; difficulty concentrating and headache; fatigue and general malaise; irritability, nervousness; depression or anxiety. Although benign and transient, combined in various ways in type and intensity, these manifestations can significantly interfere with daily activities for one or more days, preventing one from fulfilling one’s study and work commitments to the best of one’s ability. With socioeconomic repercussions as well, given the loss of productivity. A nationwide Dutch study involving nearly 33 thousand women, recruited from the general female population of childbearing age (15-45 years), assessed this impact through the administration of online questionnaires that investigated both the loss of productivity associated with menstrual flow-related absences from school or the workplace and that associated with “presenteeism,” i.e., being present in less than excellent mental and physical condition. The responses obtained showed that 13.8 percent of women of childbearing age occasionally have to take time off work or study commitments due to menstrual disorders, losing an average of 1.3 days per year. While this figure may appear reassuring (but it is not, considering that this is an average value and that menstrual flow is a physiological phenomenon and not a disease), the same cannot be said of the percentage of related presenteeism and reduced productivity, experienced by as many as 80.7 percent of the study participants for an average of 23.2 days per year (i.e., about 2 days per cycle). The researchers calculated that a loss of productivity of one-third (33 percent) of that secured under optimal psychophysical conditions for the average recorded period of presenteeism corresponds to a total annual loss of productivity of nearly 9 days: on a par with real illness. In addition, it should be considered that the absenteeism found among the women involved in the survey is likely to be lower than the actual absenteeism, since those responding to the online questionnaire were predominantly women with higher levels of education and engaged in activities that require less physical exertion than those performed by women with lower levels of education. The study also confirms that despite the considerable discomfort caused by menstrual flow, only a minority of women turn to the doctor for a satisfactory solution (45 percent according to the Dutch research, but around 15 percent in other surveys), resigning themselves to living with periodic discomfort. This is a situation that should be sought to be changed through increased education of both women and physicians in the protection of women’s well-being and reproductive health, and by developing labor policies geared toward providing greater flexibility of hours and tasks, with a view to reducing inconvenience and loss of productivity during the most critical phase of the cycle. For the benefit of all.

Source: Schoep ME et al. Productivity loss due to menstruation-related symptoms: a nationwide crosssectional survey among 32748 women. BMJ Open 2019;9:e026186. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026186
Photo by Katarzyna Grabowska on Unsplash

FEATURED SPECIALISTS

  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Izabella Sylwia Bartosiewicz
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Basic Doctors, Rheumatologists

    phone
  • Profile picture of Dr. Lorenzo Cerreoni
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Aesthetic Doctors, Basic Doctors

    • Via Macero Sauli 52 - Forlì
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Maria Grazia Caruana
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Aesthetic Doctors, Basic Doctors

    • Viale Prassilla 41 - Roma
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott. Massimo Carotenuto
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    General Surgeons, Basic Doctors

    • Via Lepanto 95 - Pompei
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dr. Giandomenico Mascheroni
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Endocrinologists, Basic Doctors, Certifying Doctor

    • Via Petrarca 53 - Carnago
    phone

RELATED ARTICLES

Home Remedies: What Works?

Treating Ailments with Home Remedies It’s best not to fully rely on what you’ve heard about curative remedies; it’s always better to discuss them with your primary care physician before

Microplastics in water: a lurking danger

Seas and oceans invaded by bottles, saucers, glasses, straws and shopping bags. Fish and birds killed by excess plastic ingested or filtered through gills. Idyllic beaches awash in garbage that

RELATED PATHOLOGIES

Alcoholism

Alcoholism is a real disease because of the way it presents itself, the disorders it causes, and the symptoms it gives the patient. The term Alcoholism is used when disorders

Anxiety

Anxiety or, more precisely, “generalized anxiety disorder,” as stated in the “Statistical Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders-DSM 5.” It is a psychiatric illness characterized by: intense and persistent worry and

Cardiac Echodoppler

The echocardiogram, also known as echocardiography, is a diagnostic imaging technique based on the use of ultrasound, which is quick and easy to perform, harmless, painless, and low-cost, and because

Diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is an ocular condition in which there is progressive damage to the retina and subsequent gradual decline in visual acuity. It is one of the most feared complications

Vitiligo

Vitiligo is a skin disease with unknown causes, characterized by the presence of skin patches that are lighter in color (or completely devoid of pigmentation) than the typical coloration of

Menopause

Menopause is a physiological event that affects all women in the age range of 46 to 53 years and corresponds to the gradual loss of ovarian function and, therefore, the

Malabsorption syndrome

The role of the small intestine is to complete the chemical breakdown of food and to absorb almost all nutrients. Malabsorption syndromes are a group of conditions united by the

Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) worldwide, in both sexes, starting as early as adolescence; if not recognized and treated appropriately quickly, it can lead

Liver cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is a late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcoholism. The liver performs several necessary

Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease is an aging-related neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system, affecting about 2.5% of people over 70 years of age, which is mainly characterized by resting tremor in

FEATURED SPECIALISTS

  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Anna Puccio
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Gynecologists, Basic Doctors

    • Via Vincenzo Ponsati 69 - Volvera
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott.ssa Erminia Maria Ferrari
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Homeopathic Medicine, Basic Doctors, Pediatricians

    • Via San Carlo 3 - Castel Rozzone
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dr. Lucia Catalano
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Gynecologists, Senologists, Basic Doctors

    • Via Belluno 1 - Roma
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dott. Sandro Morganti
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Orthopedists, Basic Doctors, Osteopaths

    • Via Foligno 6 - Roma
    phone
  • Profile picture of Dr. Sergio Ettore Salteri
    active 4 years, 9 months ago

    Basic Doctors, Chiropractors, Posturologists

    • Via Vial di Romans 8 - Cordenons
    phone
NUTRITION AND DIET
 
NATURE, SPORTS, PLACES
 
CULTIVATING HEALTH
 
MENOPAUSE
 
MOM IN SHAPE
 
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
 
HEART SURGERY
 
MEDICINES AND MEDICAL DEVICES
 
PARENTING
 
THE CULTURE OF HEALTH
 
HEALTH UTILITIES
 
GENERAL MEDICINE
 
NATURAL MEDICINE, THERMAL
 
MIND AND BRAIN
 
NEUROVEGETATIVE DYSTONIA
 
WAYS OF BEING
 
HEALTH AND SOCIETY
 
HEALTHCARE AND PATIENTS
 
SEXUALITY
 
OLDER AGE
 
CANCERS
 
EMERGENCIES
 
NUTRITION AND DIET
 
NATURE, SPORTS, PLACES
 
CULTIVATING HEALTH
 
MENOPAUSE
 
MOM IN SHAPE
 
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
 
HEART SURGERY
 
MEDICINES AND MEDICAL DEVICES
 
PARENTING
 
THE CULTURE OF HEALTH
 
HEALTH UTILITIES
 
GENERAL MEDICINE
 
NATURAL MEDICINE, THERMAL
 
MIND AND BRAIN
 
NEUROVEGETATIVE DYSTONIA
 
WAYS OF BEING
 
HEALTH AND SOCIETY
 
HEALTHCARE AND PATIENTS
 
SEXUALITY
 
OLDER AGE
 
CANCERS
 
EMERGENCIES
 
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
 
UROGENITAL SYSTEM
 
HEART AND CIRCULATION
 
SKIN
 
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
 
EYES
 
EARS, NOSE, AND THROAT
 
BONES AND LIGAMENTS
 
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
 
NERVOUS SYSTEM
 
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
 
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
 
UROGENITAL SYSTEM
 
HEART AND CIRCULATION
 
SKIN
 
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
 
EYES
 
EARS, NOSE, AND THROAT
 
BONES AND LIGAMENTS
 
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
 
NERVOUS SYSTEM
 

your advertising
exclusively ON
MY SPECIAL DOCTOR

complete the form and you will be contacted by one of our managers