Rates of Anovulation in Adolescents and Young Adults with Moderate to Severe Primary Dysmenorrhea and Those without Primary Dysmenorrhea

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate rates of presumptive anovulation in eumenorrheic adolescents and young adults with moderate to severe primary dysmenorrhea and those without primary dysmenorrhea. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-nine adolescents and young adults (ages 16–24) with primary dysmenorrhea and 52 age-matched controls. DESIGN: Participants completed luteinizing hormone surge ovulation predictor test kits. Anovulatory cycles were defined by never receiving a positive result prior to the next menstrual period; participants were grouped as anovulatory if they experienced at least one anovulatory cycle during study participation. Participants rated daily level of menstrual pain on a 0–10 numeric rating scale. SETTING: A university-based clinical research laboratory. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-eight cycles were monitored, 29.8% of which were anovulatory (37.1% vs. 17.5% of cycles in control and dysmenorrhea groups respectively). During study participation, control girls were significantly more likely to have had at least one anovulatory cycle than were girls with primary dysmenorrhea (44.2% vs. 17.9% of participants respectively, p.05). CONCLUSION: Data support previous findings of increased rates of ovulation in primary dysmenorrhea. However, menstruation following anovulatory cycles can be as painful as menstruation following ovulatory cycles. These data support the idea that regular menses do not necessarily indicate that a normal ovulatory cycle has occurred. Previous implications that ovulation is necessary for the development of substantial menstrual pain are incomplete.