About this Research Topic
Dysmenorrhea, menstrual pain, affects over 50% of reproductive-age women. It is also among the leading risk factors for the development of chronic pelvic pain and may explain why women are at increased risk compared to men.
Potential mechanisms responsible for menstrual pain have been identified, but further work is needed to verify these mechanistic hypotheses. Several common problems hinder progress in the field: Many studies do not capture the severity and characteristics of menstrual pain with validated methods. Retrospective bias in self-reported pain levels, investigator characteristics, assessment differences, and other biases common to self-report measures often impact research findings. Also, many authors do not have the necessary gynecological expertise and inadequately capture important menstrual characteristics.
Articles that review and accurately summarize the state of the current mechanistic hypotheses are needed to address these limitations. More techniques adapted from other fields of study are necessary to advance the field. The ability of different questionnaires to measure the impact of menstrual pain needs to be evaluated and compared across studies and populations, including the development of guidelines and checklists to promote quality menstrual pain research. This research topic aims to pave a pathway toward improved understanding and methods for menstrual pain research.
Literature reviews, primary research, case studies, and brief reports will all be considered for this special issue.
We aim to publish papers that significantly impact the understanding of menstrual pain and the design of future studies. We encourage scientists to publish review articles and their experimental findings, which include (but are not limited to) the following potential topics:
• Physiological mechanisms responsible for menstrual pain
• Novel methods for menstrual pain research
• Comparisons of pain and symptomology in those with primary versus secondary dysmenorrhea
• Evaluation and Validation of Questionnaire for menstrual pain
• Guidelines for menstrual pain research methods
• Psychosocial and behavioral aspects of dysmenorrhea
Potential mechanisms responsible for menstrual pain have been identified, but further work is needed to verify these mechanistic hypotheses. Several common problems hinder progress in the field: Many studies do not capture the severity and characteristics of menstrual pain with validated methods. Retrospective bias in self-reported pain levels, investigator characteristics, assessment differences, and other biases common to self-report measures often impact research findings. Also, many authors do not have the necessary gynecological expertise and inadequately capture important menstrual characteristics.
Articles that review and accurately summarize the state of the current mechanistic hypotheses are needed to address these limitations. More techniques adapted from other fields of study are necessary to advance the field. The ability of different questionnaires to measure the impact of menstrual pain needs to be evaluated and compared across studies and populations, including the development of guidelines and checklists to promote quality menstrual pain research. This research topic aims to pave a pathway toward improved understanding and methods for menstrual pain research.
Literature reviews, primary research, case studies, and brief reports will all be considered for this special issue.
We aim to publish papers that significantly impact the understanding of menstrual pain and the design of future studies. We encourage scientists to publish review articles and their experimental findings, which include (but are not limited to) the following potential topics:
• Physiological mechanisms responsible for menstrual pain
• Novel methods for menstrual pain research
• Comparisons of pain and symptomology in those with primary versus secondary dysmenorrhea
• Evaluation and Validation of Questionnaire for menstrual pain
• Guidelines for menstrual pain research methods
• Psychosocial and behavioral aspects of dysmenorrhea
Keywords: menstrual pain, chronic pelvic pain, research methods
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
