125 Dysmenorrhea among young student population-epidemiological analysis

Abstract

Objectives. To determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea, the risk factors, the grading of symptomatology, the observation of the handling of the condition in young student population. Study design: Cross-sectional study performed countrywide among 860 students of four different faculties in their first and second year of their studies. The instrument was a specially designed Questionnaire with blocks of questions covering demographics, nutrition, lifestyle, anamnestic data. Dysmenorrhea’s strength was rated with Visual-Analogue Scale and a scoring system with individual symptoms. The impact of the condition and the coping mechanisms were covered. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed on the collected data to analyze the predictive factors for dysmenorrhea. The statistical analysis was performed using software SPSS for Windows 23.0. Results. The age range was between 18 and 23, predominating 19-year-olds. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 72.4%. Cigarette smoking OR= 1,794 (95% CI 1,222 – 2,635; p<0.05) and duration of the menstrual bleeding longer than 7 days OR= 2,404 (95%CI 1,119 – 5,166; p<0.05) showed significantly associated with dysmenorrhea. By the Visual-Analogue Scale, half of the participants rated the condition with a medium score 6,35 ± 2,2. The correlation between the Visual-Analogue Scale and the system of individual symptoms displayed distinct significance. Half of them self-medicate, but only 15% of the students consulted a health worker. Strong predictors for dysmenorrhea were the heaviness of the flow as well as positive familial history for dysmenorrhea. The students using 10-20 pads/day had 1.9 times bigger chances for dysmenorrhea compared with students using less than 10 pads/day (OR = 1,910; 95 % CI 1,007-3,626), whilst the chances of ones using more than 20 pads/day are twice higher (OR = 2,1, 95 %; CI 1,078-4,221). Positive familial history for dysmenorrhea raises the chances times 2.7 (OR = 2,68; 95 % CI 1,082-1,93). Conclusion. (s): Dysmenorrhea is a frequent problem among young population. Some of the risk factors can be influenced by organized prevention, and some by raised awareness of the problem.