Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs)

This study will explore a variety of health topics that young girls and women don’t often talk about, such as period pain and pelvic pain (pain in the lower part of the tummy or abdomen). Many women experience pain, but it can take years to find out why. We want to learn about the different types of pain young girls and women have and the many ways it is addressed, such as taking medications and visiting doctors or other support. We hope to enroll 1,000 women in our study within the next 2 years.

You may be eligible to join the study if you:

• are 12 - 30 years old
• have had your first menstrual period
• have experienced pelvic pain
• live in Michigan

• You will be asked to complete a survey online every 3 months for 18 months. There will be 7 surveys total.
• You will receive an Amazon gift card each time you complete a survey.
• You will need parent / guardian consent to participate in the study
• Some of you will be asked if you are also willing to provide documents from your medical record, such as doctors’ notes or test results. This is totally your choice and you would be asked to sign a separate medical records release form before providing any documents.
• Joining the study does not change the care you receive from your current doctors or healthcare providers.

The surveys include a variety of questions about you and your health. For example, you will be asked questions about your medical history, family history, physical and mental health, lifestyle, nutrition, experiences with pain, periods, medications and hormone therapy.

• You may experience some discomfort when answering questions of a sensitive nature.
• Any time personal information is collected for research, there is a risk of a loss of confidentiality. Please know that your information (the data collected) will be used for research purposes only and the research team at MSU will have multiple processes in place to keep your information confidential. For example, your surveys will be coded using a number and your name will be removed from the data for analysis. These processes have proven to be successful to keep all of your information private for similar studies in the past.

Although you will not benefit directly, your participation in this study will add to a growing body of knowledge so that we can better understand how pain impacts women’s lives and how factors like family history or where a woman lives could change the type of care she receives. We hope the information you provide will help young girls and women with pelvic pain in the future.

It will not cost you any money to join the study, just your time because it will take 30-60 minutes to complete each survey. You will also need access to the internet and an email address in order to complete the surveys.

AbbVie, Inc. provided grant funds to Michigan State University (MSU) to cover the costs of conducting this study.

Dr. Stacey Missmer is the Principal Investigator of the WORK Study and is a Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at MSU.

Click the Join Now button below and answer the screening questions to see if you are eligible. It only takes 5 minutes!

You can contact the study team:

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