Abstract:

Background: Dysmenorrhea is a terminology describing painful menstruation that typically involves cramps caused by uterine contractions. Dysmenorrhea can occur as primary dysmenorrhea or secondary dysmenorrhea. Primary dysmenorrhea is characterized by pain during menstruation without any gynecological disease often beginning within a year after first menses (menarche) and continuing to menopause. Secondary dysmenorrhea is defined as painful menses associated with gynecological disorders such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, adhesions, cysts and pelvic tumors. This occurs later in reproductive years. The prevalence of dysmenorrhea reported in the literature widely varies where greater prevalence was generally observed in young women, with estimates ranging from 67% to 90% for those age 17-24 years.

Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on August 2019. A total of 204 students was collected by stratified sampling where the students were subdivided according to their course of study. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information.

Results: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 79.9% where 53.4% of those with dysmenorrhea reported having positive family history of the experience. The most common experienced symptom among those who experience dysmenorrhea was lower abdominal pain by 66.7% and impact assessment showed that 53.9% experienced depressed mood, 46.0% had poor concentration in class, 35.6% had poor social interactions, 29.4% had absenteeism from class, 21.5% had poor personal relationship and 18.4% had difficulty sleeping.

Conclusion: Primary dysmenorrhea occurs among most female students. A large number of those who participated in the study were not aware of the risk factors nor did they acknowledge dysmenorrhea as a problem that they need to seek medical care for. Open discussions on methods to manage dysmenorrhea and to increase knowledge on the risk factors and symptoms among females from the onset of puberty.