Prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its contributing factors in fertile aged women

Abstract

Background: In developing countries, reproductive health in particular maternal health and reproductive tract infections are recognized as a health priority but still dysmenorrhea is by far the least understood and addressed complaint despite its ubiquity. Consequently, it incredibly influences the efficiency of ladies. This study was nested to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and to perform the multivariate analysis of patterns of menstrual cycles with the age of menarche, days of interval, days of cycles and marital status.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted over the sample of 500 menstruating women of age 15 and above. The structured questionnaire administered comprised of the verbal multidimensional scoring system (VMS) and Menstrual Symptom Questionnaire (MSQ) scales in addition to the questions about menstrual patterns. Chi-square test was used for the statistical analyses on SPSS version 21.0.

Results: The mean age of the sample was 25.4 ± 6.92 years. The prevalence of 92.4% of dysmenorrheal was found to be inversely related to the average age of females with dysmenorrhea (24.93 ± 6.78 years). The significant direct relation of dysmenorrhea was observed in women with higher age at menarche (13.22 ± 1.75 years) and longer intervals of 26.95 ± 4.78 days. Moreover, the women complaining of heavy menstrual volumes were significantly more prevalent to dysmenorrhea (56.2%). The association of VMS pain scores with marital status showed that higher pain scores were significantly associated with unmarried females (44%).

Conclusion: The occurrence of dysmenorrhea is highly common and associated with patterns of the menstrual cycle. Therefore, close observation of menstrual traits is important for the improvement of menstrual health.