Pulse Wave Variation during the Menstrual Cycle in Women with Menstrual Pain.

Objective. This study is performed to obtain objective diagnostic indicators associated with menstrual pain using pulse wave analysis. Methods. Using a pulse diagnostic device, we measured the pulse waves of 541 women aged between 19 and 30 years, placed in either an experimental group with menstrual pain (n = 329) or a control group with little or no menstrual pain (n = 212). Measurements were taken during both the menstrual and nonmenstrual periods, and comparative analysis was performed. Results. During the nonmenstrual period, the experimental group showed a significantly higher value in the left radial artery for the radial augmentation index (RAI) (p = 0.050) but significantly lower values for pulse wave energy (p = 0.021) and time to first peak from baseline (T1) (p = 0.035) in the right radial artery. During the menstrual period, the experimental group showed significantly lower values in the left radial artery for cardiac diastole and pulse wave area during diastole and significantly higher values for pulse wave area during systole, ratio of systolic phase to the full heartbeat, and systolic-diastolic ratio. Conclusion. We obtained indicators of menstrual pain in women during the menstrual period, including prolonged systolic and shortened diastolic phases, increases in pulse wave energy and area of representative pulse wave, and increased blood vessel resistance.

Sasangin diagnosis questionnaire: test of reliability.

BACKGROUND: The concept of Sasang Constitutional Medicine (SCM) has been in existence in Traditional Korean Medicine for more than 100 years. It is of great importance that the Sasang constitution type be determined accurately before any therapeutic treatment. OBJECTIVES: Reliability analyse were carried out to evaluate the Sasangin Diagnosis Questionnaire (SDQ). DESIGN: The data were collected through multi-center research in collaboration with the Departments of SCM in the nine Korean Colleges of Oriental Medicine. The internal consistency test and the test-retest method were applied in the reliability analysis. SUBJECTS: The test-retest data of 88 respondents were used to analyze the reliability. The internal consistency reliability analysis was carried out using the data collected from 423 respondents. RESULTS: The test-retest reliability was examined using the Pearson's correlation coefficients, which ranged from 0.44 to 0.74. The chi-square test results showed that there were five independent items in the retest that demanded careful attention. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed that all items were acceptable. CONCLUSIONS: All the categories of SDQ can be accepted as being reliable scales.