Abstract
Introduction: The onset of menstruation in adolescence is an important part of the maturational process. However, menstrual disorders are common in all parts of the society. The aim of this study was to identify the factors that influence the menarcheal age of adult female students in Rajshahi University, Bangladesh.
 Methods: The data was collected from 1000 female students at Rajshahi University using a purposive sampling technique with direct interview method. The cross-sectional data was used for univariate analysis, to carry out the description of the variables and their attributes on data in list; and bivariate analysis, to find the associations among the variables.
 Results: The results revealed that among the respondents more than half (54%) experienced menarche at an early age, more than one-third (37.8%) experienced menarche at normal age, and a few (8.2%) experienced menarche at a later age. The results also revealed that a few (9.2%) respondents experienced irregular menstrual cycles whereas, most of the respondents (69.2%) suffered menstrual pain. The menarcheal age is significantly associated with their living areas. The association between age at menarche and socioeconomic factors was found to be statistically significant. The students having lower mean age at menarche live in urban areas with high family income than that of rural areas and middle or low family income group.
 Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Most of the respondents were experienced early menarche and suffered from menstrual pain. The sociodemographic factors were found significantly associated with age at menarche. Information on the factors that influence the menarcheal age of adult female students and related issues on reproductive health need special attention.
 Key words: Age at Menarche • Sociodemographic Factors • Duration of Menstrual Flow • Menstrual Cycle
 
 © 2017 Khatun et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Highlights
The onset of menstruation in adolescence is an important part of the maturational process
The menarcheal age and menopause are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, etc.[12]
To examine the influences of sociodemographic factors on menstrual characteristics, residence and monthly family income were considered as dependent variables and the predictors were age at menarche, duration of menstrual flow, menstrual cycle length, regularity of menstrual cycle, premenstrual symptoms, menstrual pain, menstrual fever, class absenteeism, residence, and monthly family income
Summary
The onset of menstruation in adolescence is an important part of the maturational process. Menarche is the first menstrual period and the most important event among the various pubertal changes in girls and it is the first indicator of reproductive capacity in women.[1] The most important dimension in the whole process of female puberty is the onset of menstruation.[2] The commencement of menstruation in adolescents is an important developmental milestone and it is the evidence of fully developed reproductive ability.[3] The menarcheal ages are classified as early (14 years).[4] The severity of childhood physical or sexual abuse is associated with both early and late onset of menarche.[5] The age at menarche is a predictor of several complications related to pregnancy and diseases in women’s future lives.[6] It is an important indicator of future diseases; early onset of menarche is a high risk factor for breast cancer and heart disease where as delayed menarche affects the reproductive function. Before or during their menstrual period most females suffer abdomen pain which usually begins one or two days before the menstrual flow and may continue through the first two days of menstruation.[15]
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