Efficacy of Working Ability, Location, Intensity, Days of Pain, Dysmenorrhea (WaLIDD) and Verbal Rating Scale (Pain and Drug) in Diagnosing and Predicting Severity of Dysmenorrhea among Adolescents: A Comparative Study

Background & Objective: Menstruation with cramping pain is one of the problems that appear during adolescence. The severity of dysmenorrhea affects the extent of activity limitation. Given the high prevalence of dysmenorrhea in adolescents and the personal-social effect of this condition on their daily lives, using reliable tools for assessing the severity of this condition in different populations of different countries can significantly contribute to the standard diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of people suffering from dysmenorrhea. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on a population of adolescent girls (Iran) in 2019. The research was approved and monitored by the relevant supervisory body, which issued the pertinent ethics licenses and letters of introduction. Sampling was performed using the cluster method from public schools. Inclusion criteria were Iranian nationality and not having any underlying diseases. The exclusion criterion was the unwillingness to continue participation. The data collection tools were a questionnaire of demographic and menstrual information as well as verbal rating scale (VRS; for both drug and pain) and working ability, location, intensity, days of pain, dysmenorrhea (WaLIDD) questionnaires. Results: The participants had a mean age of 15.6±2.3 years and a mean age of menarche of 12.5±1.3 years. The best sensitivity and specificity of the tools were respectively calculated as 63.7% and 56.9% for WaLIDD (at point 4.5), 57.3% and 70.8% for VRS (pain; at point 1.5), and 33.9% and 72.2% for VRS (drug; at point 0.5). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, none of the tools had high specificity and sensitivity at the same time. However, WaLIDD had high sensitivity, and VRS (for both pain and drug) exhibited high specificity.