Prevalence and severity of dysmenorrhea among adolescent Jordanian girls: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Objective. Dysmenorrhea is prevalent among adolescent girls. The aims are to report on its prevalence and study the associations between its presence, severity, and characteristics of the adolescents and their menstrual cycles. Materials and Methods.A cross-sectional study was conducted between 1/10/2022 and 1/3/2023 and included adolescents from six schools. Information about presence, characteristics, and severity of dysmenorrhea were collected. Multinomial regression was used to study associations between presence and severity of dysmenorrhea and various variables, a P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results. We recruited 945 adolescents with the mean (SD) age and age of menarche being 15.3 (± 1.3) years and 12.8 (± 1.3) years, respectively. Of those recruited, 81.7% had dysmenorrhea, and its severity as measured by a numeric analogue scale was below and above the mean in 45% of the respondents. Furthermore, 14.7% missed school days during menstruation.There were significant associations between age of menarche below the mean, light periods and presence of dysmenorrhea (p < 0.05), and between severity of dysmenorrhea and age group 13-15 years and light or average menstrual flow (all p < 0.05). Conclusions.Dysmenorrhea is prevalent among Jordanian adolescents, and almost half of the study population reported high severity scores. There were associations presence of dysmenorrhea and age of menarche below the mean and light periods, and between severity of dysmenorrhea and age group 13-15 years and light or average menstrual flow. The negative impact on school attendance should be considered by healthcare policymakers who are interested in adolescent health.