SURVEY ON CHARACTERISTICS CLINICAL OF DYSMENORRHEA AND THE NEED FOR TREATMENT WITH TRADITIONAL MEDICINE OF FEMALE STUDENTS OF HUE UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY

Background: Dysmenorrhea is understood as a woman suffering from menstrual pain. Dysmenorrhea is often manifested with symptoms such as abdominal pain, back pain, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness,... it not only causes physical pain for the patient, expensive treatment, but also greatly affects the quality of life. Objective: To stduy characteristics of dysmenorrhea and the need for treatment with traditional medicine of female students of Hue university of medicine and pharmacy. Materials and method: A crosssectional descriptive study was conducted in 409 female students from 8 academic majors at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Students were instructed and completed a self-administered questionnaire, using the Cox Retrospective Symptom Scale (RSS –Cox) to assess menstrual symptoms, using the VAS pain severity scale to assess the level of pain. Result: The rate of dysmenorrhea among female students of Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy was 88.8%. Moderate pain (according to VAS) accounts for 51.8%, mild pain 30.3% and severe pain 17.9%. The average RSS-Cox1 score was 16.7 ± 10.6 and the RSS-Cox 2 score was 13.0 ± 9.5. According to traditional medicine, Excess accounts for 65.3%, Deficiency 47.9%, Heat 3.0% and Cold 51.8%. In clinical type, the pattern of stagnation of cold-dampness accounts for 38.3%, stagnation of Qi and blood stasis 30.9%, deficiency of Qi and blood 18.7% deficiency of the liver and kidney 10.5%. The proportion of students who need for treatment with traditional medicine is 14.9%, acupress massage and moxibustion are the two methods with the highest demand for treatment. Conclusion: The rate of dysmenorrhea among female students at Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy is high, most of them have moderate pain, and menstrual-related symptoms appear more often with quite severe levels. According to traditional medicine, most of them have the manifestations of Excess and Cold, corresponding to stagnation of cold-dampness and stagnation of Qi and blood stasis are higher than the others. Demand for treatment of dysmenorrhea with traditional medicine is relatively low, most of them need treatment with acupress massage and moxibustion methods. Key words: dysmenorrhea, the need for treatment, female students, Hue university of medicine and pharmacy