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When Menstrual Pain Becomes Care‐Worthy: A Qualitative Study of Delayed Care‐Seeking Among Young Women With Function‐Limiting Dysmenorrhoea in Southwest China

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Dysmenorrhoea can disrupt education, work, sleep, mobility and other daily activities, yet recurrent pain that limits daily functioning does not always prompt timely formal care-seeking. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore how young women in Southwest China interpret recurrent function-limiting dysmenorrhoea and decide whether to seek formal care. METHODS: This qualitative study was based in Guiyang, Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Seventeen women aged 18-31 years with recurrent dysmenorrhoea affecting daily functioning took part in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted face-to-face or online, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Five themes were developed: making pain ordinary across family, peers and clinics; keeping pain within the logic of warmth and regulation; when pain becomes care-worthy: functional disruption as a threshold; reproductive expectations and delayed medicalisation; and normal tests, uncertain explanations and delayed re-entry into care. Care-seeking was often delayed as participants normalised menstrual pain, relied on culturally familiar warming or body-regulating practices, had concerns about analgesics or expected pain to improve after childbirth. Non-specific clinical explanations could also temporarily reassure participants and contribute to delay. Participants described seeking formal care when pain disrupted study, work, sleep, mobility or daily activities, when medication or self-management no longer worked, or when reproductive or gynaecological concerns emerged. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed care-seeking was shaped by whether menstrual pain became recognised as a legitimate reason for formal care. Menstrual health education and clinical communication should validate function-limiting pain, clarify when assessment is needed and provide clear follow-up guidance. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Four women with lived experience of function-limiting dysmenorrhoea helped develop parts of the interview guide. Their feedback during pilot interviews led to additional questions about healthcare access and practical barriers to seeking care. They also supported recruitment and contributed to discussions of interview accounts and developing themes.

Source: Health Expectations

DOI: 10.1111/hex.70930