Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health
Search Icon Created with Sketch.
Icons / Login Created with Sketch.
Icons / User Created with Sketch.
Search Icon Created with Sketch.

The association between Dysmenorrhea and Preterm delivery.

Approved: 2015

Collaborators:

  • Ms San Kyu Kyu Aye
  • Prof Annette Dobson
  • Dr Ingrid Rowlands

Synopsis

Preterm delivery is defined as an alive infant was born before 37 completed weeks. Preterm low birth weight (less than 2500grams) is one of the major causes of under one-year-old children death. However, about 50% of causes of preterm delivery are unknown. Preterm delivery has a common biological mechanism with primary dysmenorrhea which is a painful, irregular and heavy menstruation without any detectable disease. Moreover, preterm delivery also relates to secondary dysmenorrhea due to uterine fibroids and endometriosis. There is limited and contradictory evidence to make a conclusion between dysmenorrhea and preterm birth. Hence, this 1973-78 population-based longitudinal study intends to identify a better evidence of a relationship between them.