Menstrual cycle related complaints: A cross-cultural study

Abstract

Menstrual cycle related complaints: a cross-cultural study Menstrual and premenstrual complaints were compared amongst women from different ethnic groups in Australia, a country with a high immigrant population. One hundred and fifty-two women were asked to specify symptoms during the nienstrual cycle. Only 50.8% of women reported menstrual symptoms. The complaints were mostly somatic with a range of 37 to 73% between the different ethnic groups. Sixty-nine per cent reported suffering from premenstrualsymptoms. Turkish, Greek and Vietnamese women complained mainly of somatic symptoms, while 60% of the Australian women and 53% of the Italian women's complaints were of psychological and behavioural symptoms. Posssible explanations of these differences are discussed.

Are there any cross‐ethnic differences in menstrual profiles? A pilot comparative study on Australian and Chinese women with primary dysmenorrhea

“…The mean length of menstrual cycle in Australian women was 29.2 ± 5.3 days. A set of data collected in 1988 indicated that the mean cycle length of Australian women was 27.7 days 17 . These data were based on a small sample size (25 subjects), however it suggests that Australian women have a shorter length of cycle.…”