PHYSICAL EXERCISE AS NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL THERAPY IN THE TREATMENT OF PRIMARY DYSMENORRHOEA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Introduction: Primary dysmenorrhea is characterized as a pelvic pain associated with other symptoms. It is a frequent gynecological complaint that can cause a drop in yield and productivity in affected women, being commonly treated by self-medication despite the side effects that this practice can trigger. Objective: To analyze the efficacy of physical exercises in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. symptons. Materials and methods: This systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA methodology. Randomized controlled clinical trials were searched in PEDro, PubMed, LILACS, SciELO, MEDLINE and CENTRAL databases. The methodological quality os the selected articles was evaluated using the PEDro scale. Results: Five articles were included for analysis with a total sample of 436 women with primary dysmenorrhea symptoms who were submitted or not to a protocol of physical exercises. The overall mean score resulting from the methodological evaluation of the studies was 4.6. All the evaluated articles presented beneficial effects of the practice of physical exercises in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea, for at least one evaluated variable. Conclusion: There were identified evidences showing that the practice of physical exercises may reduce the symptoms associated with dysmenorrhea, therefore it can be considered as an effective treatment on detriment of the use of drugs. The development of a more reliable and assertive evaluation instrument that covers the totality of symptoms related to primary dysmenorrhea is necessary to contribute to the elaboration of future standardized studies which allows an analysis and comparison of results in a more consistent manner.