Background & Aims

Chronic pain can be a debilitating condition on its own [1], but when combined with women’s health issues like menstrual-related symptoms and menopause, the pain experience can be even more excruciating. It has been demanded for female workers who are suffering from chronic pain to receive the necessary medical support and care they need to sooth their pain and improve their quality of life. According to reports on working women in Japanese studies, menstruation decreases health-related quality of life (HRQOL) [2] and dysmenorrhea decreases HRQOL and labor productivity [3]. However, few studies have investigated the effects of the comorbidity of chronic pain and women’s health problems on HRQOL and presenteeism. It’s crucial that we acknowledge the impact of women’s health issues on chronic pain and work towards providing effective solutions. Therefore, we conducted an Internet survey to address these issues.

Methods

We conducted an online survey on women’s health conditions and work productivity during July and August 2023. Japanese women’s workers aged between 20-69 years were included, and the participants were recruited by an Internet research company, Macromill Co., Ltd (Tokyo, Japan).
The questionnaire included basic information of the participants and the following items: 1) women’s health issues, 2) pain symptoms (site, intensity, and duration), 3) EQ-5D-5L as HRQOL, 4) presenteeism, 5) K6 as psychological conditions. Women’s health issues included menstrual-related symptoms, menopause, pregnancy and childbirth, gynecologic tumors, and pelvic floor issues. For presenteeism, we calculated the presenteeism index and economic losses with reference to reports by Yoshimoto T (2020) [4]. Participants were categorized into four groups: healthy, women’s health issue only (WH), chronic pain only (CP), and WH+CP. The results were then compared across these four groups.

Results

Out of 3,564 respondents, 1,695 participants (healthy786, WH397, CP250, WH+CP261) were included, excluding those with health issues acute pain or other than women’s health problems. HRQOL was significantly lower in WH+CP than in other groups. On the other hand, the presenteeism index was higher in WH+CP than in CP, but significantly higher in WH than in these two groups. The annual economic loss per capita was highest for WH at $340.3, followed by WH+CP at $210.0, and CP at $130.5. K6 was higher in the other three groups than in healthy group, and WH and WH+CP were higher than CP. Multiple regression analysis was conducted with HRQOL and presenteeism index as dependent variables, and the number of WH problems, pain intensity, number of sites, and K6 as independent variables. As a result, pain intensity and K6 were identified as a significant factor in HRQOL, and the number of WH problems and K6 were detected as a significant factor in presenteeism with both showing small coefficents.

Conclusions

The study found that women who have both chronic pain and comorbid women’s health problems have a lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL) than those with only one of these conditions. Women workers who experience severe pain and in lower psychological status are especially likely to have low HRQOL. Chronic pain in women can be exacerbated by menstrual-related symptoms and menopause, which can also adversely affect their quality of life.The study also found that women’s health problems have a significant impact on presenteeism regardless of whether they have chronic pain or not. The risk of presenteeism may be particularly high for women with multiple women’s health problems.

References

1. Goldberg DS, McGee SJ. Pain as a global public health priority. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:770.
2 Shimamoto K, Hirano M, Wada-Hiraike O, et al. Examining the association between menstrual symptoms and health-related quality of life among working women in Japan using the EQ-5D. BMC Womens Health. 2021;21(1):325.
3. Yoshino O, Takahashi N, Suzukamo Y. Menstrual Symptoms, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Work Productivity in Japanese Women with Dysmenorrhea Receiving Different Treatments: Prospective Observational Study. Adv Ther. 2022;39(6):2562-2577.
4. Yoshimoto T, Oka H, Fujii T, Nagata T, et al. The Economic Burden of Lost Productivity due to Presenteeism Caused by Health Conditions Among Workers in Japan. J Occup Environ Med. 2020;62(10):883-888.

Presenting Author

Yukiko Shiro

Poster Authors

Yukiko Shiro

PT

Nagoya Gakuin University

Lead Author

Noriyo Takahashi

MD,PhD

Multidisciplinary Pain Center, Senriyama Hospital

Lead Author

Mie Sakai

PhD

Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School

Lead Author

Tomoko Tetsunaga

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Okayama University Hospital

Lead Author

Shinsuke Inoue. MD

PhD

Department of Pain Medicine, Aichi Medical University

Lead Author

Topics

  • Gender/Sex Differences