Menstrual characteristics and prevalence of dysmenorrhea in college going girls

Abstract

Background:Dysmenorrhea is a common gynecological condition with painful menstrual cramps of uterine origin. Prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea is not yet clearly studied in central India.Objective:To study prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea in young girls and to evaluate associated clinical markers of dysmenorrhea.Materials and Methods:In a cross-sectional study, data was collected among 310 girls (18–25 years) on age at menarche, presence and absence of dysmenorrhea, dysmenorrhea duration, pre-menstrual symptoms (PMS), family history, menses irregularities, menstrual history, severity grading using visual analogue scale (VAS) using a semi-structured questionnaire.Results:Dysmenorrhea was reported in 84.2% (261) girls and 15.8% (49) reported no dysmenorrhea. Using VAS, 34.2% of girls experienced severe pain, 36.6% moderate and 29.2% had mild pain. Bleeding duration was found to be significantly associated with dysmenorrhea (χ2 = 10.5; P < 0.05), girls with bleeding duration more than 5 days had 1.9 times more chance of getting dysmenorrhea (OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.7–3). Moreover, girls with the presence of clots had 2.07 times higher chance of having dysmenorrhea (OR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.04–4.1) (P < 0.05). Almost 53.7% girls who had some family history of dysmenorrhea, 90.9% experience the condition themselves (χ2 = 11.5; P < 0.001). Girls with family history of dysmenorrhea had three times greater chance of having the same problem (OR: 3.0; 95% CI: 1.5–5.8; P = 0.001).Conclusion:Dysmenorrhea is found to be highly prevalent among college going girls. Family history, bleeding duration and presence of clots were significant risk factors for dysmenorrhea.

The Relationship between Age at Menarche and Primary Dysmenorrhea in Female Students of Shiraz Schools

“…According to the present study, there was no significant association between menarche age and dysmenorrhea, which was in accordance with a study by Kural et al (1). However, Shrotriya revealed a significant correlation between these variables, which could be due to the longer exposure of prostaglandins, leading to a higher incidence of uterine dysmenorrhea in adolescents with early menarche (8).…”

“…Primary dysmenorrhea is a common gynecological condition, characterized by contractions due to prostaglandin release in the secretory phase (1). Its prevalence varies from 51% to 92.5%, based on the results of previous studies on female adolescents (2).…”

The Prevalence of Dysmenorrhea in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…2017; 19(3):e40856. 51,52). Moreover, the prevalence of severe dysmenorrhea was 16%, which was comparable to the 12% -14% that was reported in the community-based studies in the World Health Organization review (3) and 5%-20% that was reported in another review in developing countries (48).…”

Common menstrual disorders in adolescent girls attending a tertiary care center

“…The estimated prevalence of dysmenorrhea varies from 20% to 95% in various studies. 4 Irregular cycles reported in this study is 44.65% which is much higher when compared to other Indian studies. Sheetu et al, reported 24.3% of adolescent girls suffer from irregular cycles.…”