Quality of Life and Productivity Losses of Patients with Primary Dysmenorrhea in Korea

A secondary analysis of a multicenter randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Dangguijagyak san was conducted to measure health-related quality of life and productivity loss among patients with primary dysmenorrhea in Korea. Women aged 18-40 years with primary dysmenorrhea for ≥3 consecutive months and a visual analogue scale (VAS) score ≥50 were included (n=240). EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D), verbal multidimensional scoring system (VMSS), retrospective symptom scale (RSS), and short form McGill pain questionnaire (SF-MPQ) were used to measure quality of life. iMTA productivity cost questionnaire (iPCQ) was used to estimate patients’ productivity loss due to dysmenorrhea. We descriptively analyzed the health related quality of life and productivity loss of the patients. The mean EQ-5D utility score at peak pain was 0.57, substantially lower than the general population. Mean VMSS grade was 2, indicating moderate pain requiring analgesics with affected daily activities. Patients slept 4.24 hours more than usual per cycle, and 57.5% used an average of 3.52 analgesics. Productivity loss totaled 236,495KRW per menstrual cycle, driven primarily by presenteeism (161,539KRW), followed by unpaid work (62,806KRW) and absenteeism (12,150KRW). Primary dysmenorrhea patient’s quality of life is much lower compared to that of general population, and causes productivity losses mainly due to presenteeism.