ALSW PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Smoking linked to painful periods.

Publisher: Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, 2016

Status – CURRENT

Women who smoke are at higher risk of experiencing painful periods. Women who started smoking by age 13 are 60% more likely to have ongoing period pain than women who have never smoked. Women who stopped smoking sometimes experienced reduced period pain; however, they still suffered period pain at a higher rate than those who had never smoked. Dysmenorrhoea (period pain) is a common gynaecological problem, affecting up to 91% of women of reproductive age. Smoking has been identified as a possible risk factor for period pain in the past. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between smoking status and period pain in young women over a 12 year time period.