Increased vaginal bleeding: the reasons women give for consulting primary care

A previous study identified interference with life as the main reason for consultation with increased vaginal bleeding. The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons why the heaviness of periods interferes with life and how this may be related to consultation. The design was a case-control study in which questionnaires were sent to women who consulted primary care with new episodes of increased vaginal bleeding and two groups of controls: consulting controls with another illness and non-consulting community controls. Of the 186 women who reported that heaviness of periods interfered with life the most common reason given was 'mood' (87%). There was no difference in the reporting of 'mood' interfering with life or general health questionnaire score between cases, consulting controls and non-consulting controls. Women who report heavy periods interfering with life complain most commonly of mood as one of the reasons. This does not distinguish consulters and non-consulters and is not reflected in objective measures of psychological distress. Clinicians should focus initially on treating the presenting physical symptoms.