The study population comprised 438 midwifery and
nursing students who had attended the Erzurum
Health School between January and June 2008. Of
the 150 students who had declared that they had suffered
from dysmenorrhea, 44 students volunteered to
participate in the study. Participants were asked to
use a visual analog scale (VAS) on the first day of the
menstrual period to record their level of pain. The intensity
of dysmenorrhea was measured with a 100-
point VAS, indicated by marking the appropriate value
on a 100-mm horizontal ruled line. Higher scores reflected
a greater severity of dysmenorrhea pain, and
participants’ VAS scores were >60 on commencement
of the study. Participants indicated that they had not
suffered from any systemic or genital diseases, they
had had regular menstrual cycles, and they had not
been using analgesics to overcome dysmenorrhea.