Dysmenorrhea and cold exposure

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Reproductive Health
• Environmental Health

Background:

• Menstruation and dysmenorrhea are common health concerns for women.
• Workplace environmental factors, such as cold exposure, may impact women's health.
• Poultry slaughterhouse work presents unique occupational exposures for women.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of dysmenorrhea in women poultry slaughterhouse workers.
• To compare dysmenorrhea rates between female workers and a reference group of housewives.
• To examine the relationship between workplace cold exposure, dysmenorrhea, and sick leave.

Main Methods:

• A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on menstruation from 213 female slaughterhouse workers and 105 housewives in Quebec.
• Prevalence of dysmenorrhea was calculated and compared between the two groups.
• Statistical analyses explored associations between dysmenorrhea, sick leave, cold exposure, age, parity, oral contraceptive use, and menstrual regularity.

Main Results:

• Women slaughterhouse workers exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of dysmenorrhea (73.2%) compared to housewives (52.5%).
• Among workers, dysmenorrhea and sick leave prevalence increased with greater cold exposure at the workplace.
• Factors typically associated with lower dysmenorrhea frequency did not mitigate its occurrence in cold work environments.

Conclusions:

• Cold exposure in the workplace is a significant factor influencing the menstrual process and increasing dysmenorrhea prevalence among poultry slaughterhouse workers.
• Occupational health interventions should consider environmental factors like cold exposure to address women's reproductive health issues.
• The findings highlight the need to investigate and mitigate the impact of adverse working conditions on female employees' well-being.