Nature and Prevalence of Menstrual Disorders among Teenage Female Students at Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

Study Objective: To determine the nature and prevalence of menstrual disorders among teenage girls. Design: An observational descriptive cross-sectional study. Setting: Zagazig University Students' Hospital, Zagazig, Egypt. Participants: A representative sample of female students who attended the university pre-enrollment medical examination. Interventions: Self-administered questionnaire covering items on the adolescents' demographic data and menstruation characteristics. Main Outcome Measures: Information about menarche, body mass index, physical exercise, cycle length and regularity, duration of menses, menstrual blood loss, dysmenorrhea, and premenstrual syndrome. Results: A total of 285 questionnaires were analyzed. Mean age at menarche was 12.3 +/- 1.5 years. Oligomenorrhea was reported by 18 participants (6.3%) and 5 others (1.8%) mentioned having polymenorrhea. Hypomenorrhea was noted in 25 students (8.8%), and hypermenorrhea was reported by 12 (4.2%). Irregular periods were mentioned by 24 students (8.4%). Dysmenorrhea was reported in 188 students (66.0%). Of these, 81 (28.4%) graded their pain as mild, 69 (24.2%) as moderate, and 38 (13.3%) as severe. Premenstrual syndrome was mentioned by 160 girls (56.1%). Consulting somebody regarding their menstrual problems was reported by 36 students (12.6%). Conclusion: Our results are not greatly different from those in other parts of the world. Data on nature and prevalence of menstrual disorders and their effect on young women's health status, quality of life, and social integration suggest that management of these disorders should be given more attention within the available reproductive health care programs. Further research into prevalence of and risk factors for menstrual disorders and their morbidity is warranted and anxiously awaited.