Autistic traits in women with primary dysmenorrhea: a case-control study.
OBJECTIVE
Recent studies have shown that women with autism spectrum disorder have higher rates of menstrual problems, including irregular menstrual cycles, unusually painful periods (dysmenorrhea), and excessive menstrual bleeding. In this study, we investigated the autistic traits in female university students with primary dysmenorrhea (PD).


METHODS
Seventy females with PD and 70 females without PD were enrolled in the study. The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) was used to measure autistic traits and the Brief Symptom Inventory was used for evaluating anxiety and depression levels. The dysmenorrheal pain was assessed by visual analog scale (VAS), coded from 0 to 10. Weight and height were measured, and the body mass index was calculated.


RESULTS
There were no statistical differences between the groups in terms of age, duration of education, and body mass index. Women with PD had higher AQ - Total, and AQ - Attention Switching subscale scores than subjects without PD. Spearman analysis revealed that AQ - Total and AQ - Attention Switching scores were correlated with VAS. According to the linear regression analysis, VAS was predicted only by AQ - Attention Switching subscale.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings showed an association between autistic traits and dysmenorrhea in typically developing females.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University.
Harun
H
Toy
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic, Konya Training and Research Hospital.
Arzu
A
Hergüner
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University.
Sevcan
S
Şimşek
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Meram Faculty of Medicine, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, Turkey.
Sabri
S
Hergüner
androgens; autistic traits; primary dysmenorrhea
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