Comparative study of the effects of lumbo-pelvic exercises and yoga on menstrual low back pain among female university students with primary dysmenorrhea

Abstract

Background: Menstrual low back pain is a common complaint experienced by women during menstruation, often associated with dysmenorrhea. Non-pharmacological interventions such as exercise are recommended to reduce pain. Lumbo-pelvic exercises and yoga are both known to be effective, but their comparative effectiveness remains unclear. Objective: To compare the effects of lumbo-pelvic exercises and yoga on menstrual low back pain among female university students with primary dysmenorrhea. Methods: This non-randomized experimental study employed a two-group pretest–posttest design involving 20 female university students with primary dysmenorrhea. Participants were divided into Lumbo-Pelvic Exercise (n=10) and Yoga (n=10) groups through purposive sampling. Interventions were given for six weeks, five sessions per week. Pain intensity was measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Data were analyzed using the Shapiro–Wilk test, Levene’s test, paired t-test, and Welch’s t-test. Results: Mean VAS scores decreased from 7.29 ± 0.68 to 3.53 ± 0.81 in the Lumbo-Pelvic Exercise group and from 7.39 ± 0.51 to 4.30 ± 0.66 in the Yoga group. Both interventions significantly reduced pain (p<0.05), with a greater reduction observed in the Lumbo-Pelvic Exercise group (p=0.025; Cohen’s d=1.19).  Conclusion: Both exercises effectively reduced menstrual low back pain, but lumbo-pelvic exercises demonstrated superior short-term effects. These findings suggest that targeted core and pelvic stabilization exercises may be prioritized in managing menstrual low back pain. However, due to the small sample size and short intervention duration, further studies with randomized designs and larger samples are warranted.