CONCLUSION

In our population of 953 adolescent girls in France aged 15 to 19 years, 92% suffered from dysmenorrhea, 8.9% of whom experienced severe dysmenorrhea. The factors associated with severe dysmenorrhea identified in multivariate analysis were heavy menstruation, young age at menarche, inter-menstrual pain and a low BMI. The girls often sought symptom-relief through ineffective self-medication and were often of the opinion that menstrual pain was a “womanly burden”.
Underdiagnosed, undertreated, trivialized and insufficiently taken into consideration, dysmenorrhea is nevertheless the cause of physical, educational, social and psychological repercussions and can sometimes be an obstacle to the educational and professional progress of the young girls affected. It is therefore essential that this symptomatology be considered a public health issue.
Better information provided to adolescents, as well as to their families and school nurses, could encourage them to consult a physician for access to an effective therapeutic option. Furthermore, general practitioners, the primary care providers, should be trained to actively screen their adolescent girl patients to improve dysmenorrhea management and not to misdiagnose secondary dysmenorrhea.