A Study of Menarche and Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding in Adolescent School Girls in Ansan City

PURPOSE: We investigated the menstrual features of adolescent school girls to know the characteristics of menarche and dysfunctional uterine bleeding in adolescents. METHODS: In March, 2001, 1,434 primary and middle school girls(10-15 years of age) in Ansan City were investigated for the menacheal age and several aspects of menstruation through questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean age of the total subjects were 13.0+/-1.2 years of age, and 68.4% of them experienced menarche. 32.2% experienced menarche after age 12, but 82.9% experienced it after age 13. Mixed type(regular and irregular) menstrual cycle was the most common(35.3%), and changing type(irregular to regular) was 27.6%. In changing type, the mean duration of cycle stabilization was 6.6+/-4.9 months. The most common menstrual cycle was 'within 26-30 days'(31.4%). Abnormal cycles such as 'equal or less than 20 days' and 'equal or more than 41 days' were 17.2% and 2.0%, respectively. The most common menstrual duration was '5-6 days'(44.7%). 7.6% of the subjects experienced short or long menstrual duration. Among the subjects, only 4.0% visited the hospital with menstrual problems. The visiting reasons were 'irregular menstrual cycles'(38.5%), 'dysmenorrhea'(28.2%), 'menorrhagia'(12.8%), and 'hypermenorrhea'(28.2%). CONCLUSION: Most adolescent girls in our study experienced menarche until 13 years of age and some of them got early menarche at the age of 9. Many of them had irregular or unstable menstrual cycles after menarche at any age, but only few of them visited a health care provider. We suggest the careful attention of pediatricians, parents and teachers to the early detection and proper treatment of menstrual problems in adolescent girls.

Predisposing Factors of Risk Taking Behaviors in Korean Adolescents

PURPOSE: Risk-taking behaviors are defined as patterns of behavior initiated during adolescence which are responsible for the majority of negative health outcomes occurring during the rest of the life. The study was to explore the relationship between the risk-taking behaviors and their predisposing factors among adolescents. METHODS: The study used a survey design with an anonymous self-report questionnaire administered to 1,076 students from first year of middle school to first year of high school in Ansan City. The questions were constructed from nine risk-taking behaviors of independent variables including smoking, alcohol, drug abuse, adaptation at school, use of computer, sexual behavior, vehicle use, suicide, school violence and eight predisposing factors of school grade, gender, academic ranking, academic achievement of the mother, socioeconomic status, living with both parents, religion of the student and the mother. The data was analysed by the statistical methods of X(2) test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: The study revealed that the combination of the independent variables of the risk-taking behaviors to have a close association(P<0.05) with the predisposing factors. CONCLUSION: School grades, socioeconomic status, academic rankings, final educational level of the mother and living with both parents were factors strongly correlating with risky behaviors. The role of the clinician to identify those at risk is fundamental for health maintenance long after adolescence.