Association of menstrual patterns with perceived stress score in college-going female students of a South Indian Town

Abstract

Background: A natural phenomenon involving the discharge of blood through the vagina from the uterus, occurring at more or less monthly at regular intervals during the reproductive life of females is called menstruation. A normal menstruation occurs for the first time in the adolescent period between 11 and 14 years of age generally, with a period length of around 7 days, with a normal cycle length ranging between 21 and 45 days with an average blood loss of 20–80 ml. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 3-month duration (February 2019 to June 2019), in which 291 students from the various courses including medical, nursing, physiotherapy, and art and science students of a tertiary care hospital participated. Results: Two hundred and ninety-one students were included in the study, among which the age of the students was between 18 and 23 years of age with the majority of students between 20 and 21 years (43.99%). Most of them belong to rural backgrounds (40.55%) and majority of them are day scholars (86.25%). Discussion: This study was pointed to find a relation between stressful life events and menstrual patterns among college-going students of different courses of undergraduate college. Previous studies till now have reported a higher percentage of distress among postgraduates (32.8%) and resident doctors of hospitals (36.4%). Conclusion: Despite high levels of stress in undergraduate students, other factors can also play a significant role in maintaining their menstrual cycle.