Effect of Individualized Homoeopathic Medicine on Pain Intensity and Quality of Life in Patients with Primary Dysmenorrhoea Using Kent’s Repertory: A Single Group Pre-Post Interventional Study

Dysmenorrhoea is a Greek term and literally means "painful monthly bleeding" where the words ‘dys’ meaning difficult, painful or abnormal, ‘meno’ meaning month and ‘rrhoea’ meaning flow. But a more realistic and practical definition of Dysmenorrhoea (ICD-11 code:GA34.3) includes cases of painful menstruation of sufficient magnitude so as to incapacitate day to day activities.Dysmenorrhea is considered as one of the most common gynaecological disorders among females of childbearing age. Although it is a common condition, it is usually underdiagnosed, since most females do not seek medical attention.Dysmenorrhoea is of two types: primary and secondary. Primary Dysmenorrhoea (PD) refers to presence of painful menses where there is no underlying pathology that can account for pain. On the other hand, Secondary Dysmenorrhoea (SD) is defined as menstrual pain occurring in the presence of pelvic pathology.The worldwide prevalence of Primary Dysmenorrhoea ranges from 45% to 95% females of   reproductive age and a greater prevalence (70% to 90%) was noted among young females of age less than 24 years and in India the prevalence is 70.2%.

Primary dysmenorrhoea usually appears 6-12 months after menarche because it occurs only during ovulatory cycles and begins to decline beyond 30 years of age with peak prevalence between 18-24 years of age.The clinical manifestations of Primary Dysmenorrhoea have tremendous negative effect on quality of life among young females. A study in India shows approximately 50% of dysmenorrheic girls remained absent from school or colleges.

The goal of the treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhoea is to provide adequate relief from menstrual pain and improvement in quality of life of young females.

Despite of relief from pain by the standard pharmacological treatment by Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and Oral contraceptive Pills (OCPs), patients suffering from Primary Dysmenorrhoea still report perplexing residual symptoms like indigestion, headaches, drowsiness, irregular bleeding drastically affecting their Quality of life (QoL). Several studies reported these symptoms as the adverse effects of NSAID and OCP  if used for a long period of time.

Therefore, many women often opt for homoeopathic treatment to cope with the condition and chiefly avoid conventional treatment for side effects. Homoeopathy is a holistic system of medicine and acts generously on psychosomatic spheres for the case of Primary Dysmenorrhoea. There are very few studies conducted in India as well as worldwide, to determine effectiveness of homoeopathic medicines in the treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea and related quality of life, which had shown both positive and negative results.

In dearth of evidence, the rationale of this study is aimed to evaluate the effect of individualized homoeopathic medicines on pain intensity and quality of life of patients suffering from Primary Dysmenorrhoea using Kent’s repertory which is being used for its ample content of general rubrics along with medicines, easy accessibility and extensive use throughout the world.

Research Question: Is individualized homoeopathic medicine effective on reducing pain intensity and improving quality of life in patients suffering from Primary Dysmenorrhoea?

Hypothesis:

Null Hypothesis(H0): There is no significant role of individualized homoeopathic medicine in the reduction of pain intensity and improvement of quality of life in the patients of Primary Dysmenorrhoe

Alternative Hypothesis (HA**):** Individualized homoeopathic medicines have a significant role in reduction of pain intensity and improvement of quality of life in the patients of Primary Dysmenorrhoea