Media release

From: Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI)

Menstruation is part of life for half of the population, however severe period pain is still not well understood.

A new study from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) has worked directly with adolescents and their parents/carers to better measure the impact of menstruation and identify ways to reduce stigma and ignorance among medical professionals and the wider public.

This ‘co-design’ model saw parents/carers and youths aged 12-18 years interviewed separately (through two different focus groups). This is the only study in the world to take this approach.

Researchers found that many young women felt shame and stigma for their level of period pain and had limited access to empathetic medical professionals.

Other findings include:

- Parents and carers felt GPs were often inexperienced in providing appropriate strong pain relief to young people that needed it
- School-based reproductive education was universally viewed as insufficient by participants
- Young people affected by severe period pain called for increased education for male classmates, teachers and even parents to try and reduce stigma and dismissive attitudes
- This paper emphasised previous findings, which showed that adequate social support can help young people and their parents/carers better manage physical symptoms of periods overall

Available for interview:

Dr Courtney Munro, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) Senior Research Officer

About Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Murdoch Children's Research Institute is the largest child health research institute in Australia committed to making discoveries and developing treatments to improve child and adolescent health in Australia and around the world. They are pioneering new treatments, trialling better vaccines and improving ways of diagnosing and helping sick babies, children and adolescents. It is one of the only research institutes in Australia to offer genetic testing to find answers for families of children with previously undiagnosed conditions.