Prevalence, Severity of Dysmenorrhea and Effectiveness of Structured Physiotherapy Interventions Among Doctor of Physical Therapy Students

\*\*Trial Summary\*\* Primary dysmenorrhea is a common condition among young women that can significantly impair daily functioning and health-related quality of life. This single-center randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of a 12-week structured physiotherapy program in 360 female Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students with primary dysmenorrhea. Participants were randomly allocated to either a structured physiotherapy intervention (n=180) or a control group receiving conventional treatment (n=180). The intervention consisted of supervised sessions three times per week, including general stretching, pelvic stretching, aerobic jogging, Kegel exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation. The primary outcome was the change in dysmenorrhea symptoms over three consecutive menstrual cycles, while secondary outcomes included health-related quality of life assessed using the SF-36 questionnaire. Compared with the control group, participants receiving structured physiotherapy demonstrated significant reductions in all assessed dysmenorrhea symptoms and significant improvements in physical functioning, bodily pain, general health perception, and vitality. Greater dysmenorrhea severity was associated with poorer quality-of-life scores, and structured physiotherapy independently predicted clinical improvement. The findings indicate that a structured multimodal physiotherapy program is an effective non-pharmacological intervention for reducing the severity of primary dysmenorrhea and improving selected domains of health-related quality of life in female DPT students.

Inclusion Criteria: * Inclusion criteria were: regularly menstruating female DPT students aged 18-30 years; self-reported and clinically confirmed primary dysmenorrhea (pain commencing within 1-2 days of menstrual onset with no identifiable pelvic pathology); history of primary dysmenorrhea for at least the past four cycles with pain intensity ≥4 on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Females who had sedentary lifestyle (engaging in \