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For Healthcare Professionals

Some questions HCP’s should consider when asking women about their symptoms:

  • Has the person bled just as heavily since menarche?
  • Does the person use double menstrual pads or pads and tampons at the same time?
  • Does the person use more than 6 pads / tampons a day?
  • Does the person change pads during the night?
  • Has the person been on sick leave due to menorrhagia?
  • Does the person have problems with bleeding anaemia? For example, dizziness, fatigue, headache?
  • Is the person finding it easy to get bruises?
  • Has the person experienced frequent or heavy nosebleeds? (>10mins)
  • Has the person experienced major or prolonged bleeding after surgery or birth?

Family History

  • Are there mucosal bleeding problems among the person’s immediate family members?
  • Are there female relatives with heavy menstruation or severe / postpartum haemorrhage? Heavy menstruation in families with increased bleeding tendency can be considered ‘normal’ if bleeding disease in the family has not been identified.

Here are some resources to help you learn more about women and bleeding disorders:

  • EAHAD, Women and Bleeding Disorders Working Group The European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders (EAHAD) is an association for healthcare professionals working with haemophilia.
  • Know Your Flow Know your Flow is a Irish initiative launched to promote knowledge about women and haemophilia. Here you can find some free toolkits primarily aimed at, nurses, health nurses and educators.
  • Subcommittee on Women and Thrombosis and Hemostasis Diseases The International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH) has several committees, including the Subcommittee on Women and Thrombosis and Hemostasis Diseases, which collects and publishes articles related to the topic. The Scientific and Standardization Committee (SSC) of the ITSH has developed this tool for assessing bleeding symptoms
  • Bleeding Assessment Tool (BAT) by ISTH. This is a questionnaire that evaluates the presence and severity of bleeding symptoms of someone with an inherited bleeding disorder. 

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