The Effectiveness of Fish Oil and Ginger Drink in Reducing Dysmenorrhea: A Meta Analysis

Abstract

Background: Dysmenorrhea causes 34-50% of women to be unable to work in the workplace and 40% of adolescent girls are absent from school. Fish oil and ginger are used as alter­natives to NSAIDs, because although the use of NSAIDs is effective in reducing dysmenorrhea pain, they have side effects that are harmful to health after long-term conventional therapy. This study aims to estimate the magnitude of the effect of fish oil and ginger in reducing dysmenorrhea in women of reproductive age. Subjects and Method: This was a meta-analysis and systematic study. The articles used were obtained from PubMed, Science Direct, ProQuest, Springer Link, and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria used were full text art­icles with Randomized Control Trial (RCT). The study subjects are women of pro­ductive age. The treatment given was the con­sumption of fish oil or ginger with a placebo comparison, dysmenorrhea assessment using standardized measuring instruments such as VAS, Cox, ques­tionnaires, etc. Articles published in English. The PICO Research Problem are population= women of reproductive age, inter­vention= fish oil or ginger, comparison= placebo, and out­come= dys­menorrhea. The study was assessed using an effect size (Standar­dized Mean Diffe­rence). Meta analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 with Random Effect Model. Results: A total of 14 articles were reviewed in a meta-analysis in this study. Meta-analysis of 6 articles showed that fish oil reduced dys­menorrhea pain in women of reproductive age higher than placebo (Standardized Mean Diffe­rence= -1.06; 95% CI= -1.76 to -0.36; p= 0.003). Meta-analysis of 8 articles showed that ginger reduced dysmenorrhea pain in women of childbearing age more than placebo (Standar­dized Mean Difference= -0.77; 95% CI= -1.26 to -0.27; p=0.002). Conclusion: Fish oil and ginger are effective in reducing dysmenorrhea pain in women of reproductive age.