Perspectives of women experiencing Menorrhagia: A descriptive qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the perspectives and support needs of women experiencing menorrhagia in Singapore. BACKGROUND: Women with menorrhagia lack awareness regarding the severity of menorrhagia. There is a dearth of literature understanding the support needs of women with menorrhagia. DESIGN: A descriptive qualitative study design was adopted. The Consolidated crieteria for Reportig Qualitative Research (COREQ) was used to report the findings of this study. METHODS: The study was conducted at a tertiary public hospital in Singapore from July 2017-October 2017. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 16 women who were diagnosed with menorrhagia. The total number of interviews was concluded based on data saturation. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts. The COREQ was used to report the findings of this study. RESULTS: Participants reported that they were unaware about menorrhagia and its severity. Various internal and external factors influenced the participants' awareness and understanding of menorrhagia. Although the participants received support to cope with menorrhagia, the support was deemed insufficient. The women shared that menorrhagia had affected their lives physically, emotionally, socially and financially. They used both external and internal coping mechanisms to cope with their conditions and looked for information through close contacts and the Internet. They longed to learn more about their conditions. CONCLUSION: Multiethnic Singaporean women with menorrhagia lacked awareness about their conditions and the severity, which affected their lives negatively. There should be greater efforts to raise the public's awareness of menorrhagia so that women can seek medical help early and minimise its negative influence on their lives. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Healthcare providers need to pay greater attention to menorrhagia in order to provide more holistic care and support for those experiencing this condition. Healthcare professionals should understand their patients' experiences with menorrhagia and evaluate their current support resources in order to create a strong support system.