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ABSTRACT
Background and objectives: Dysmenorrhea is a painful symptom that accompanies the menstrual cycles. Although exercise is generally thought to alleviate the symptoms of menstrual pain the scientific literature displays mixed evidence. The main objective of this research was to determine the effect of knee chest position on primary dysmenorrhea.
Materials and method: 30 female participants were recruited from KLE's Institute of Physiotherapy, Belgaum and randomly allocated to control and experimental group after obtaining an informed consent and clearance from the institutional ethical committee. Visual analogue scale (VAS) and Moos menstrual distress questionnaire (MMDQ) were used as primary and secondary outcome measures. Control group received hot moist pack for 10 mins and the experimental group received hot moist pack (HMP) for 10 mins and knee chest position for 10 repetitions with 20 seconds hold. The intervention was carried out for 2 days beginning from the first day of menses. Outcome measures were documented using VAS on both the days pre intervention and post intervention and MMDQ on 1st day pre intervention and 2nd day post intervention respectively.
Results: The results showed statistically significant reduction in VAS and MMDQ scores in the experimental group when compared to the control group with p<0.05.
Conclusion: Intervention with Knee chest position can be used in conjunction with HMP for reducing pain and menstrual distress in primary dysmenorrhea.
Keywords: Primary Dysmenorrhea, Visual Analogue Scale, Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire, Knee Chest Position
INTRODUCTION
Dysmenorrhoea is defined as pain associated with menstruation of sufficient magnitude so as to affect day-to-day activities.1 According to Dawood dysmenorrhea is the common gynaecological complaint that can affect 50% of women with 10% of these women suffering severely enough to render them to incapacitate for one to three days of each menstrual cycle ? This condition not only has a significant impact on personal health but also has a global economic impact.2 Pain is a subjective symptom and cannot be accurately estimated by an outside observer since different women perceive pain with different severity and tolerance.3 The incidence of primary dysmenorrhea is about 45-50%. It is the major cause of absenteeism from work amongst women thus decreasing the efficiency and quality of life among women.1,4'11 The pain begins on the first day of menstruation and...