New Data Presented at European Society of Gynecology Congress Show Most Women Would Prefer to Have Less Frequent Periods

PRAGUE, October 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Results from a new study at the 11^th Congress of the European Society of Gynecology this week demonstrate that the majority of women in Europe prefer to have less frequent periods. The study recruited 2,883 women aged 18-45 years old from Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Poland and Spain.^[1] Results demonstrated that the majority (57%) of those surveyed would prefer to have periods less than once a month. About 1 out of 5^[1] women would prefer to have four periods a year and over a quarter would opt for no periods at all.^[1]

According to Dr Christian Fiala, Gynecologist and Medical Director, Gynmed Clinic, Vienna, "For many women, monthly bleeding is painful and inconvenient, affecting all aspects of life. This new survey confirms earlier research that most women prefer to have fewer and shorter periods, despite the fact that monthly periods are considered natural. There is no medical reason for those women on the oral contraceptive pill to have monthly periods."

The Inconvenience due to women'S monthlY bleeding (ISY) study,^[1] which explored women's attitudes towards frequency of menstrual bleeding across Europe, was conducted by an independent research company and was supported by Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe.

Women's attitudes may be affected by variables such as age and nationality. Women between the ages of 36 and 45 years express a greater preference for no periods at all compared with women less than 36 years old.^[1] There were country differences between the groups, and, overall, there was a greater preference for no menstruation in Austria, Belgium and France than in Italy, Spain and Poland.^[1]

Of the 2,883 women surveyed, 1,319 women were on a combined hormonal contraceptive (mostly an oral contraceptive pill, 'the pill') and 1,564 were on a non-hormonal contraceptive or no contraceptive at all.^[1] The ISY survey also explored women's reasons for taking oral contraceptives in addition to preventing pregnancy. A considerable proportion of women surveyed also take the "pill" to alleviate period-related symptoms:^[1] 42% of women cited menstrual irregularities, over one-third (34%) cited pelvic pain, 32% pre-menstrual syndrome and 25% heavy bleeding.^[1]