Strengths and limitations
Our
study of the prevalence of dysmenorrhea represents a major update of
French data on the subject, the last one dating from 1984. The high
number of participants (953 girls) with an excellent participation rate
(none of the selected girls refused to participate), and the methodology
are all parameters that ensure the accuracy of the sample. However,
there remain a few limitations to our study. As it was a cross-sectional
study, the girls were only asked about their cycles during the past year
and our results do not describe the progression of dysmenorrhea over
time. Finally, we also had to deal with memory bias that was difficult
to overcome, as many girls did not know, or even remember, which
pharmacological treatment they had used for their
dysmenorrhea.