目的:以實證方式探討黑糖薑茶對女大學生痛經改善之成效。方法:採類實驗法之雙組前後測設計,在中部某科技大學進行方便取樣,共60位女學生,實驗組及對照組各30位,為期三個月追蹤。實驗組在月經第一天開始每日飲用一包黑糖薑茶至經期結束,持續三個月經週期,對照組則無給予任何措施。兩組受試者皆須於介入前、介入後1、2、3個月分別填寫問卷,包含基本資料、每日健康飲食行為問卷、月經週期紀錄表含疼痛程度、疼痛特性及緩解方式、月經不適症狀。結果:廣義估計方程式分析中,加入控制變項是否使用止痛劑後,在月經不適症狀方面,組別的差異未達統計意義;而在疼痛程度上,經由組別與時間交互作用分析,比較介入三個月後與介入前測,實驗組的經痛程度明顯比對照組低(P<0.05)。結論:黑糖薑茶可改善月經不適症狀,且從介入三個月後開始產生改善經痛的效果,建議經期間可持續飲用黑糖薑茶超過三個月。
Objective: This study was to explore the effect of brown sugar and ginger tea on dysmenorrhea for female undergraduates. Methods: This research is designed to do a quasi-experimental two-group pretest and posttest study. A convenient sampling was used in a technological university of middle Taiwan. The number of total enrolled female students is sixty, dividing into experimental and control groups. Thirty subjects were arranged into each group. The following duration of this study was three months. In the experimental group, every subject needed drink a packet of brown sugar and ginger tea per day during menstruation. That was continuing for three menstrual periods. The control group was not given any intervention. All subjects in two groups must respectively fill in the related questionnaires before intervention, and after intervention from one to three months. The questionnaires included demographic data, daily health eating behaviors, dysmenorrhea evaluation, and menstrual symptoms. Results: In the analysis of generalized estimating equations, after adding the control variable of analgesics usage the total score of menstrual symptoms was not different in two groups. And comparing the three-month-after and before of intervention by analyzing the interaction between group and time, the degree of dysmenorrhea in the experimental group reduced a significant difference from that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The brown sugar and ginger tea can improve menstrual symptoms, and beginning from the third-month-after intervention the effect of improving menstrual pain will be produced. Continuously drinking it during the menstrual period for more than three months is recommended.