Problems related to menstruation amongst adolescent girls

Objective To study the types and frequency of problems related to menstruation in adolescent girls and the effect of these problems on daily routine. Methods Girls in the age group 13–19 years who had had menarche for at least one year at the time of study. 198 adolescent girls have been studied. Da...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Indian journal of pediatrics 2008-02, Vol.75 (2), p.125-129
Main Authors: Sharma, Pragya, Malhotra, Chetna, Taneja, D. K., Saha, Renuka
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dysmenorrhea - epidemiology
Female
General aspects
Gynecology
Health Education
Humans
India - epidemiology
Medical sciences
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Menstruation
Original Article
Pediatrics
Premenstrual Syndrome - epidemiology
Prevalence
Surveys and Questionnaires
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective To study the types and frequency of problems related to menstruation in adolescent girls and the effect of these problems on daily routine. Methods Girls in the age group 13–19 years who had had menarche for at least one year at the time of study. 198 adolescent girls have been studied. Data was collected by personal interviews on a pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. The questions covered menstrual problems, regularity of menses in last three cycles of menstruation and the effect of these problems on the daily routine. Analysis was done using SPSS version 12. Percentages were calculated for drawing inferences. Results More than a third (35.9%) of the study subjects were in the age group 13–15 years followed by 17–19 years, 15–17 years respectively. Mean age of study participants was calculated to be 16.2 years. Dysmenorrhea (67.2%) was the commonest problem and (63.1%) had one or the other symptoms of Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). Other related problems were present in 55.1% of study subjects. Daily routine of 60% girls was affected due to prolonged bed rest, missed social activities/commitments, disturbed sleep and decreased appetite. 17.24% had to miss a class and 25% had to abstrain from work. Mothers and friends were the most common source of information on the issue. Conclusion Screen adolescent girls for menstruation related problems and provide them with counseling services and relevant information on possible treatment options. Besides, there is a need to emphasize on designing menstrual health programmes for adolescents.
ISSN:0019-5456
0973-7693
DOI:10.1007/s12098-008-0018-5