In pain and lonely? A longitudinal study examining the associations between menstrual pain, physical functioning and loneliness.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The current study aimed to determine the prospective associations between menstrual pain, physical health functioning and loneliness.

METHOD

We collected three waves of data from a community cohort of women reporting at least mild menstrual pain over 3 years. Participants were women aged 18-50, living in Australia, who had experienced regular menses and menstrual pain in the past year. Two hundred and eighty-nine women (n = 100 with self-reported endometriosis, 34% of current sample) completed the online questionnaires at all three time points and had complete data assessing pain severity, physical functioning and loneliness.

RESULTS

Poorer physical functioning was associated with greater loneliness (β = -.371, p < .001). Contrary to our expectations, menstrual pain severity was not associated directly with loneliness but was indirectly associated via physical functioning (R = .195, p < 001).

DISCUSSION

The overall stability in physical functioning over time suggests that a person's degree of physical functioning could be an early indicator of loneliness experiences. Health professionals wanting to mitigate loneliness amongst people with menstrual pain might benefit from screening for and addressing physical functioning impairment. It might also be beneficial to screen for and treat menstrual pain to ensure that it does not lead to or exacerbate physical functioning impairment.

CONCLUSION

Future research should consider the underlying mechanisms that drive the associations between physical functioning and loneliness.