Endurance and Electromyographic Assessment of 2 Abdominopelvic Motor Control in Women with 3 Dysmenorrhea: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Dysmenorrhea, a prevalent menstrual condition characterized by pelvic pain during the 13 menstrual cycle, significantly impacts the quality of life of women and produces increased pain 14 sensitivity that can persist throughout the menstrual cycle. However, scientific literature has not 15 studied whether there are implications for alterations in muscle function and endurance in the ab-16 dominopelvic region during the non-painful phases of the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study 17 was to compare muscle function and endurance capacity in the abdominopelvic region in women 18 with primary dysmenorrhea versus women without dysmenorrhea. An observational, cross-sec-19 tional study was designed to analyze muscle activation and endurance capacity using electromyog-20 raphy (EMG) during McGill exercises. Forty-four women were included, 22 with PD and 22 without 21 dysmenorrhea. The results did not indicate significant differences in muscle activation and endur-22 ance of the abdominopelvic musculature between the two groups (p > 0.05). However, the analysis 23 suggests that women with primary dysmenorrhea might develop compensatory strategies that al-24 low them to maintain physical function despite their condition. These results suggest that the ap-25 proach to primary dysmenorrhea could focus more on pain management rather than physical func-26 tionality, and more studies are needed from a comprehensive approach to more accurately evaluate 27 the relationship between primary dysmenorrhea and muscle function.