A cross sectional study on menstrual pattern among adolescent school girls in urban slums of Bengaluru.

Abstract

Background Menstruation is an important milestone in reproductive health among adolescent girls. These menstrual patterns differ from one adolescent girl to other. Hence the present study was taken up to know the menstrual pattern among adolescent girls studying in High Schools of urban field practice area of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute. Objective To assess menstrual patternamong adolescent girls in urban slums.Methodology A Cross sectional study was conducted to assess menstrual characteristics among adolescent girls in urban slumsamong 150 adolescent school girls aged between 14-16 years. Multi stage random sampling with Probability Proportionate to Size sampling technique was used. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was self administered to assess socio-demographic factors and menstrual pattern. Results In this study the mean age of the participants was 15.03 0.83 years and the mean age of menarche was 12.311.16 years. Among 150 adolescent girls 73.3 had menstrual blood flow for 4-5days and in 52.0 of girls theduration of menstrual cycle was ranging between 29-35 days. Most commonly experienced menstrual symptoms among adolescent girls during their cycles which were lower abdominal pain 72.7and pain in the lower back 63.3.Conclusion In this study the mean age of the participants was 15.03 0.83 years and the mean age of menarche was 12.311.16 years. Dysmenorrhea was the most commonly reported symptom in 10972.7 girls Anxiety and stress are common issues experienced during adolescent phase which can be address by health education awareness and counselling.