Primary dysmenorrhoea: a comparative study on Australian and Chinese women.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the extent to which traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnostic categories for primary dysmenorrhoea are useful in describing the clinical presentation of this condition in Australian women in comparison with Chinese women, and therefore the potential usefulness of these categories in guiding TCM treatment of Australian women.


METHODS
A comparative study of 120 Australian and 122 Chinese women aged from 18 to 45 years with primary dysmenorrhoea.


METHODS
Modified valid TCM diagnostic protocol.


RESULTS
Difference in menstruation and menstrual pain profiles between the two groups of women found in the same study did not translate into differences in the underlying syndrome according to TCM diagnostic categories. The study found that Australian and Chinese women were represented in broadly similar proportions across the defined five diagnostic categories.


CONCLUSIONS
Some evidence suggests that although the clinical presentation of symptoms in Australian and Chinese women is different, the distribution of women across the diagnostic categories in TCM is similar. Therefore, the TCM protocol used to diagnose primary dysmenorrhoea and guide treatment is unlikely to require adaptation for use with Australian women.
Zhu
Xiaoshu
X
Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag, Penrith South DC, NSW, Australia. x.zhu@uws.edu.au
Bensoussan
Alan
A
Zhu
Lin
L
Qian
Jing
J
Xu
Meiyan
M
Zhou
Chunxiang
C
Chao
Peixia
P
Lo
Singkai
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D001628:Beverages; D002681:China; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D019413:Qi; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult