Referral for menorrhagia does not often mean excessive bleeding is the problem

Many women attending hospital clinics with menstrual problems do not have excessive blood loss as a key symptom, even though this is often the primary complaint given by the referring general practitioner and also within the clinic. Relatively few women report their volume of blood loss as a severe problem or as their motive for seeking help. This reflects a tendency for women's menstrual complaints to be reframed and may result in women receiving inappropriate care. Warner and colleagues (p 24) conducted a questionnaire survey with partial review of case notes after eight months in 665 women attending three gynaecological clinics in Glasgow and Edinburgh. They also found that economically disadvantaged women were more likely not to reattend.

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Relevant Article

Referral for menstrual problems: cross sectional survey of symptoms, reasons for referral, and management

Pamela Warner, Hilary O D Critchley, Mary Ann Lumsden, Mary Campbell-Brown, Anne Douglas, and Gordon Murray
BMJ 2001 323: 24-28. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]