Menstrual characteristics: a study of the adolescents of rural and urban West Bengal, India.
BACKGROUND
It has been observed that menstrual characteristics are generally influenced by lifestyle, socio-cultural and biological factors.


OBJECTIVE
The present study examines: (a) variation in menstrual characteristics between rural and urban adolescents; and (b) whether these characteristics can be predicted from various socio-economic variables related to place of residence.


METHODS
The sample of the present study constituted 715 adolescent girls from rural (325) and urban (390) areas of West Bengal, a State of India. These girls belong to a Bengali-speaking Hindu ethnic group. Data on socio-economic variables and menstrual characteristics were collected using pretested questionnaires.


RESULTS
Rural and urban adolescents differed significantly (p < or = 0.05) with respect to age at menarche, skipped and irregular cycles, premenstrual syndrome, duration of menstrual discharge, mean number of days of peak discharge and problems related to menstrual discharge. Place of residence was found to be a significant predictor of age at menarche (beta = 0.27, p < 0.01). Significant association was observed between some of the socio-economic variables and various menstrual characteristics among the study participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Menstrual characteristics differ significantly between rural and urban adolescents. Moreover, various socio-economic variables pertaining to place of residence significantly affect the menstrual characteristics among adolescents.
Ray
Subha
S
Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunj Circular Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. subharay@rediffmail.com
Mishra
Shailendra Kumar
SK
Roy
Abhishikta Ghosh
AG
Das
Bhubon Mohan
BM
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008572:Menarche / Q000208:ethnology; D008598:Menstruation / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000208:ethnology; D017584:Reproductive History; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013995:Time; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*