Prevalence of menstrual problems and their association with psychological stress in young female students studying health sciences

Abstract

Objectives:To identify the prevalence of various menstrual problems in young females studying health sciences and to identify their association with academic stress.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in the health colleges of Immam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia between February 2015 and February 2016. Seven hundred and thirty-eight female students aged 18-25 years anonymously completed menstrual problem identification and perceived stress scale questionnaire. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16.0.Results:Ninety-one percent of the students were suffering from some kind of menstrual problem. The different menstrual problems reported, and their incidences included irregular menstruation (27%), abnormal vaginal bleeding (9.3%), amenorrhea (9.2%), menorrhagia (3.4%), dysmenorrhea (89.7%), and premenstrual symptoms (46.7%). High perceived stress (HPS) was identified in 39% of the students. A significant positive correlation was found between HPS and menstrual problems. Students with HPS had 4 times, 2 times, and 2.8 times increased odds ratio for experiencing amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, and premenstrual syndrome (p<0.05).Conclusion:The most prevalent menstrual problems (dysmenorrhea and premenstrual symptoms) in the target population were strongly associated with stress. Therefore, it is recommended that health science students should be provided with early psychological and gynecological counselling to prevent future complications.

Prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea and its relationship with body mass index

“…26,27 The present study revealed that UW females have a significantly higher prevalence of dysmenorrhea as compared to the OB ones. These findings are line with few previous studies.. 8,12,13,28,29 Chauhan et al narrates that all girls of their study group with moderate and severe dysmenorrhea had BMI < 16.5, but a drawback of this study was that 81% of their total study participants were only UW females, and none of the subject was OW or OB. This unequal distribution of subjects in different BMI groups may have caused a bias in the results.…”

“…6 Some studies reveal that there is no relationship between BMI and dysmenorrhea, 6,[9][10][11] whereas increased prevalence of PD is documented in underweight (UW) subjects by other authors. 8,12,13 Still some other data is suggestive of a positive association between increased BMI and PD. 14 In addition, the study results of Hong et al provide a U shaped relationship between BMI and PD, indicating that both the UW and overweight (OW) + obese (OB) females are at a higher risk of having PD.…”

“…Various studies reflect that age, parity, family history, use of oral contraceptive pills, smoking, stress, exercise, dietary habits and body mass index (BMI) can affect PD . But the data regarding the effects of BMI on PD is still controversial .…”

“…But the data regarding the effects of BMI on PD is still controversial . Some studies reveal that there is no relationship between BMI and dysmenorrhea, whereas increased prevalence of PD is documented in underweight (UW) subjects by other authors . Still some other data is suggestive of a positive association between increased BMI and PD .…”

“…6 Various studies reflect that age, parity, family history, use of oral contraceptive pills, smoking, stress, exercise, dietary habits and body mass index (BMI) can affect PD. 7,8 But the data regarding the effects of BMI on PD is still controversial. 6 Some studies reveal that there is no relationship between BMI and dysmenorrhea, 6,[9][10][11] whereas increased prevalence of PD is documented in underweight (UW) subjects by other authors.…”