The Effect of Relaxation and Stretching Exercises on Pain and Quality of Life in Women With Primary Dysmenorrhea

NCT05960695 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Pyeditepe
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The study aimed to examine the effect of stretching and relaxation exercises on pain and quality of life in women with primary dysmenorrhea.

Conditions

Primary Dysmenorrhea

Keywords

Primary Dysmenorrhea; Pain; Exercise; Stretching

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Visual Analogue Scale

  Participants will be evaluated their menstrual pain levels on the Visual Analogue Scale between 0 and 10.

  4 weeks

• The Menstruation Symptom Questionnaire

  Participants will rate their menstrual distress using the Menstrual Symptom Scale. The minimum score on this scale is 22, while the maximum score is 110. We can see that the lower the score in the questionnaire, the fewer problems the person has during the menstrual period.

  4 weeks

• Short Form 12 Health Survey

  Participants will be evaluated their health-related quality of life using the Short Form 12 Health Survey. It is seen that the higher the score in the questionnaire, the higher the quality of life of the person.

  4 weeks

• Measurement with Algometer

  Algometer measures the pain threshold, and in the study, it will be checked whether the pain thresholds changed with the exercises performed by the participants.

  4 weeks

Study Arms (2)

The Experimental Group

EXPERIMENTAL

The experimental group will be given both stretching and relaxation exercises. Among the stretching exercises, iliopsoas, adductor, and hamstring stretches will be taught. Deep breathing exercises will be taught as relaxation exercises. Participants will repeat the stretches 3 times a week with 3 repetitions of each stretch for 20 seconds.

Other: Stretching; Other: Relaxation

The Control group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The Control group will be given only stretching exercises. Among the stretching exercises, iliopsoas, adductor, and hamstring stretches will be taught. Participants will repeat the stretches 3 times a week with 3 repetitions of each stretch for 20 seconds.

Other: Stretching

Interventions

Stretching OTHER

Among the stretching exercises, iliopsoas, adductor, and hamstring stretches will be taught. Participants will repeat the stretches 3 times a week with 3 repetitions of each stretch for 20 seconds. The exercises will be done online by the physiotherapist. The experimental group will be given both stretching and relaxation exercises. The Control group will be given only stretching exercises.

The Control group; The Experimental Group

Relaxation OTHER

Diaphragmatic breathing will be taught as a relaxation exercise. The experimental group will be given both stretching and relaxation exercises. The Control group will be given only stretching exercises.

The Experimental Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• participants in the study voluntarily.
• participants in ages between 18-25 years of age.
• participants have a sedentary lifestyle.
• participant's pain intensity of more than 40 mm during the menstrual period according to the VAS.

You may not qualify if:

• using regular drugs like NSAIDs
• presence of SD
• having an irregular menstrual cycle
• presence of chronic disease.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Yeditepe University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Yeditepe University

Istanbul, Ataşehir/İstanbul, 34755, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (20)

• Ferries-Rowe E, Corey E, Archer JS. Primary Dysmenorrhea: Diagnosis and Therapy. Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Nov;136(5):1047-1058. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000004096.

  PMID: 33030880 BACKGROUND

• Lopez-Liria R, Torres-Alamo L, Vega-Ramirez FA, Garcia-Luengo AV, Aguilar-Parra JM, Trigueros-Ramos R, Rocamora-Perez P. Efficacy of Physiotherapy Treatment in Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 23;18(15):7832. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18157832.

  PMID: 34360122 BACKGROUND

• Proctor M, Farquhar C. Diagnosis and management of dysmenorrhoea. BMJ. 2006 May 13;332(7550):1134-8. doi: 10.1136/bmj.332.7550.1134. No abstract available.

  PMID: 16690671 BACKGROUND

• Dorn LD, Negriff S, Huang B, Pabst S, Hillman J, Braverman P, Susman EJ. Menstrual symptoms in adolescent girls: association with smoking, depressive symptoms, and anxiety. J Adolesc Health. 2009 Mar;44(3):237-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2008.07.018. Epub 2008 Oct 29.

  PMID: 19237109 BACKGROUND

• Petruzzello SJ, Landers DM, Hatfield BD, Kubitz KA, Salazar W. A meta-analysis on the anxiety-reducing effects of acute and chronic exercise. Outcomes and mechanisms. Sports Med. 1991 Mar;11(3):143-82. doi: 10.2165/00007256-199111030-00002.

  PMID: 1828608 BACKGROUND

• Ameade EPK, Amalba A, Mohammed BS. Prevalence of dysmenorrhea among University students in Northern Ghana; its impact and management strategies. BMC Womens Health. 2018 Feb 13;18(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12905-018-0532-1.

  PMID: 29433488 BACKGROUND

• Bernardi M, Lazzeri L, Perelli F, Reis FM, Petraglia F. Dysmenorrhea and related disorders. F1000Res. 2017 Sep 5;6:1645. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.11682.1. eCollection 2017.

  PMID: 28944048 BACKGROUND

• Kamel DM, Tantawy SA, Abdelsamea GA. Experience of dysmenorrhea among a group of physical therapy students from Cairo University: an exploratory study. J Pain Res. 2017 May 9;10:1079-1085. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S132544. eCollection 2017.

  PMID: 28533696 BACKGROUND

• Burnett M, Lemyre M. No. 345-Primary Dysmenorrhea Consensus Guideline. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2017 Jul;39(7):585-595. doi: 10.1016/j.jogc.2016.12.023.

  PMID: 28625286 BACKGROUND

• Doty E, Attaran M. Managing primary dysmenorrhea. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2006 Oct;19(5):341-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpag.2006.06.005. No abstract available.

  PMID: 17060018 BACKGROUND

• Ryan SA. The Treatment of Dysmenorrhea. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2017 Apr;64(2):331-342. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2016.11.004.

  PMID: 28292449 BACKGROUND

• Granot M, Yarnitsky D, Itskovitz-Eldor J, Granovsky Y, Peer E, Zimmer EZ. Pain perception in women with dysmenorrhea. Obstet Gynecol. 2001 Sep;98(3):407-11. doi: 10.1016/s0029-7844(01)01465-x.

  PMID: 11530120 BACKGROUND

• Tu CH, Niddam DM, Chao HT, Chen LF, Chen YS, Wu YT, Yeh TC, Lirng JF, Hsieh JC. Brain morphological changes associated with cyclic menstrual pain. Pain. 2010 Sep;150(3):462-468. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2010.05.026.

  PMID: 20705214 BACKGROUND

• French L. Dysmenorrhea in adolescents: diagnosis and treatment. Paediatr Drugs. 2008;10(1):1-7. doi: 10.2165/00148581-200810010-00001.

  PMID: 18162003 BACKGROUND

• Yu A. Complementary and alternative treatments for primary dysmenorrhea in adolescents. Nurse Pract. 2014 Nov 16;39(11):1-12. doi: 10.1097/01.NPR.0000454984.19413.28.

  PMID: 25325520 BACKGROUND

• Xu K, Chen L, Fu L, Xu S, Fan H, Gao Q, Xu Y, Wang W. Stressful Parental-Bonding Exaggerates the Functional and Emotional Disturbances of Primary Dysmenorrhea. Int J Behav Med. 2016 Aug;23(4):458-63. doi: 10.1007/s12529-015-9504-0.

  PMID: 26309099 BACKGROUND

• ACOG Committee Opinion No. 760: Dysmenorrhea and Endometriosis in the Adolescent. Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Dec;132(6):e249-e258. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002978.

  PMID: 30461694 BACKGROUND

• Morrow C, Naumburg EH. Dysmenorrhea. Prim Care. 2009 Mar;36(1):19-32, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.pop.2008.10.004.

  PMID: 19231600 BACKGROUND

• Marjoribanks J, Ayeleke RO, Farquhar C, Proctor M. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for dysmenorrhoea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Jul 30;2015(7):CD001751. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001751.pub3.

  PMID: 26224322 BACKGROUND

• Pattanittum P, Kunyanone N, Brown J, Sangkomkamhang US, Barnes J, Seyfoddin V, Marjoribanks J. Dietary supplements for dysmenorrhoea. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Mar 22;3(3):CD002124. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002124.pub2.

  PMID: 27000311 BACKGROUND

Related Links

• Health definition according to World Health Organization

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain; Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Pelin Zöhre, Pt

  Yeditepe University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: The volunteers who met the inclusion criteria were divided into 2 groups. The patients have informed about 2 different groups, but they were not told which of them. Stretching exercises were taught regardless of which group the patients were in. In addition, relaxation exercises were taught to the patients in the stretching+relaxation group.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 26, 2023
• First Posted: July 27, 2023
• Study Start: May 30, 2023
• Primary Completion: July 20, 2023
• Study Completion: August 30, 2023
• Last Updated: September 11, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)