Menstrual characteristics and prevalence of dysmenorrhea in college going girls.
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.


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 (χ(2) = 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 (χ(2) = 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).


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Medical Superintendent, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Index Medical College and Research Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
MoolRaj
M
Kural
Medical Superintendent, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Index Medical College and Research Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Naziya Nagori
NN
Noor
Research Consultant, Index Medical College and Research Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Deepa
D
Pandit
Medical Superintendent, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Index Medical College and Research Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Tulika
T
Joshi
Medical Superintendent, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Index Medical College and Research Centre, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Anjali
A
Patil
Dysmenorrhea; prevalence; young girls