Comparison of herbal medicines and pain relief medications in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea among female medical students at Taibah University

OBJECTIVES: Dysmenorrhoea is a common gynaecological problem that affects many women during their reproductive years. The objectives of this study were to describe the different treatments used for primary dysmenorrhoea (PD) among medical students at Taibah University, and to investigate the link between pain severity and daily life activities in relation to the type of dysmenorrhoea treatment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 301 female medical students through an 18-item self-administered electronic questionnaire to screen for students with PD. The questionnaire included sociodemographic characteristics, details of self-management methods (types and adverse events), daily life domains affected by pain, and the Visual Analogue Scale score for the pain (wherein a score ≥7 indicated severe pain). Chi-square test, a multivariate regression model, and correlation analysis were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of PD among respondents was 71.8%. Medications were used by more than half of the respondents (51.9%), and were mainly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (53.5%) and paracetamol (47.5%). Among the participants, 14.1% used herbal medicines, cinnamon (55.7%), chamomile (40.7%), and ginger (33.3%). Other pain relief modalities were used by 34% of participants. Most students with a history of PD (80.6%) reported effects on their daily activities, mainly mood disturbance. Students using medications were more likely to have severe pain (72.7%) and an affect on daily activities (92.9%) than those using herbal medicines (44.4% and 88.9%, respectively) and other treatments (47.7% and 70.8%, respectively) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Medications were more commonly used than herbal medicines and other relief methods. Effects of PD on daily life activities were observed among most students treated with medications. We recommend health promotion programmes to increase the awareness regarding different pain relief methods.