Menstrual disorders in adolescent age group

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of different menstrual disorders and their relationship with socioeconomic factors in adolescent age group was assessed by administering a questionnaire to 700 adolescent girls with average age of 15 years. The girls were randomly selected from six schools and one college based on stratification of socio-economic factors like income level and locality. The results show that the mean and median ages of menarche were 12 and 12.5 years respectively. Premenstrual syndrome [PMS] was present in 81.5% of respondents and dysmenorrhoea in 76%. Menorrhagia and amenorrhoea was observed in 8.5% and 2.8% respectively. Results indicate that PMS has a strong relationship [p<0.001] with age, income level and hobbies of the respondents. However, the relationship of dysmenorrhoea with income level, age and hobbies was found to be statistically significant. It is therefore, concluded that menstrual disorders are quite prevalent in our adolescent girls and positive role of socio economic factors can reduce the severity of these problems