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Menstrual symptoms may be significant driver of lost productivity
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Menstruation-related symptoms may cause up to 9 days of lost productivity each year, according to study results publishing in BMJ Open.
More productivity was lost while attending work or school, known as presenteeism, than from time taken off, or absenteeism.
“Studies show that women with [menstruation-related symptoms] have lower scores on several domains of quality of life such as general health and physical, mental, social and occupational functioning during their periods,” Mark E. Schoep, MD, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and colleagues wrote. “Furthermore, these symptoms may create considerable financial burdens on patients and their families as well as on society.”
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study using an online survey created to evaluate lost productivity in women with menstruation-related symptoms. The survey asked women aged 15 to 45 years to provide details about their basic characteristics, menstrual symptoms, menstrual cycle length, and whether menstruation-related symptoms caused them to take time off of work or school or made them less productive at work or school.
The survey was shared online through Twitter and Facebook, and responses between July 12 and Oct. 11, 2017 were evaluated in the study.
After exclusions, responses from 32,748 women were included in analyses. Of those, 45.4% (n = 14,839) reported visiting a doctor for menstrual complaints and 9.2% (n = 3,017) had a diagnosis of a menstrual disorder such as endometriosis or fibroids.
Among survey respondents, 13.8% (n = 4,514) reported absenteeism during menstrual periods and 3.4% (n = 1,108) reported absenteeism for all or most menstrual cycles. The mean time attributed to absenteeism was 1.3 days per year. Absenteeism due to menstruation-related symptoms accounted for 22% of total absenteeism in working respondents and 24% of total absenteeism in student respondents.
Presenteeism was significantly more prevalent in participants, with 80.7% (n = 26,438) of women reporting presenteeism or decreased productivity for an average of 23.2 days per year. The average productivity loss was 33% on days with reported presenteeism, which translated to a mean 8.9 days of lost productivity each year.
Participants aged less than 21 years were more likely to report absenteeism (OR = 3.3; 95% CI, 3.1-3.6) than older women.
Among those who took time off, only 20.1% (908) told their employer or school that the absence was due to menstruation-related symptoms. A total of 67.7% of women reported that they wished they had more flexibility with work and school-related hours and tasks during their period, including doing less physical work or working from home.
“The prevalence and the impact of [menstruation-related symptoms] on the general population and the number of women who are asking for a different approach all reflect the need to change the view of menstrual symptoms and the way they are addressed in society,” Schoep and colleagues wrote. – by Erin Michael
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.