Abstract

Aim: To determine the frequency and severity of primary dysmenorrhea in adolescent females.

Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study

Place and Duration: The study was conducted at obstetrics and gynecology unit 1, Holy Family Hospital from 11-07-2017 to 11-01-2018.

Methodology: One hundred and thirty five adolescent females with ages 15 to 19 years having menstruation for at least 1 year were enrolled. After taking informed written consent detail demographics including age, weight, body mass index and complete blood picture were recorded. Dysmenorrhea was defined as crampy or severe painful sensation in lower abdomen occurring just before or during menstruation. . Each female was recorded in the structured proforma attached as Annex 1 and was divided into underweight and overweight study groups and analyzed accordingly. All the data was analyzed by SPSS 24.0.

Results: Mean age of patients was 16.87±1.38 years, mean BMI was 26.42±2.51 kg/m2. Dysmenorrhoea was present 75/135 (55.6%) patients while it was absent 60/135 (44.4%). There were 59/135 (43.7%) patients below 25kg/m2BMI and more than 25kg/m2 were 76/135 (52.3%).In BMI < 25kg/m2 dysmenorrhea was found in 25 (42.4%), while In BMI > 25kg/m2 dysmenorrhea was found in 50 (65.8%), significant association was found between body mass index and presence of dysmenorrhea with p-value 0.007.

Conclusion: Dysmenorrhoea was present in 55.6% adolescent females. Presence of dysmenorrhea was significantly higher in BMI > 25kg/m2 as compared to BMI < 25kg/m2.

Keywords: Dysmenorrhea, Adolescent Females, Body Mass Index