Menstrual characteristics and its association with socio-demographic factors and nutritional status: a study among the urban slum adolescent girls of West Bengal, India

Abstract

Menstrual health is one of the major areas of concern in reproductive health, and affects a large number of women throughout their reproductive life from adolescence. Menstruation is a biological phenomenon imbued with social-cultural, nutritional and personal significance. The present study aims to focus on the menstrual characteristics and its association with socio-demographic factors and nutritional status among the urban slum adolescent girls of North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal. This community-based study was conducted among a group of 90 Bengali speaking Hindu adolescent girls aged between 16 to 18 years. A pre-tested structured schedule was used to collect detailed information about the socio-economic conditions and menstrual characteristics. All anthropometric measurements were taken using the standard procedures. Results of the study revealed that underweight girls attained menarche comparatively in later age (12.67±1.23) than that of healthy and overweight girls. Mean length of the menstrual cycle, mean duration of menstrual bleeding and mean number of days of peak discharge were maximum among the girls whose BMI was below 5th percentile, i.e. underweight. Majority of the underweight (75%) and healthy (50%) girls experienced heavy discharge during their menstrual days. Disorders like premenstrual syndrome (PMS) (78.8%) and dysmenorrhea (85.5%) were the major prevalent menstrual problems among these girls and occurrence of the symptoms of these disorders significantly varied based on their BMI. A highly significant difference (p<0.01) was found among underweight, healthy and overweight girls in terms of duration of menstrual bleeding, mean number of days of peak discharge and occurrences of PMS. Result of linear regression and step wise logistic regression (backward elimination) shows that various socio-economic and anthropometric variables are the influential predictors of menstrual characteristics like duration of menstrual discharge, cycle length, days of peak discharge as well as menstrual problems like cycle irregularity and heavy flow (p<0.05). Therefore, the present study unwraps a podium to focus on the menstrual health issues of the adolescent girls and enforce health education as well as instigates nutritional intervention programme to fortify the existing menstrual health status.