Determination of the prevalence and pattern of menstrual disorders in college going adolescent girls in rural Haryana
Background: Adolescence is the transitional period from puberty to adulthood, causing rapid physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes. Any deviation of normal menstrual pattern is one of the reasons of severe stress and academic losses on many. The aim of the study was to determine prevalence and pattern of menstrual disorders in college going adolescent girls.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a medical college of Gurugram district of Haryana, North India. A semi-structured, pretested questionnaire was used to ask about the characteristics of girl’s menstruation: age of menarche; regularity/irregularity of menstruation, interval and duration; presence of amenorrhoea; amount of blood loss; degree of pain during menstruation; activity during menstruation and BMI.Results: All the girls were in the age group 17 to 19 years i.e.; in the late adolescent period with the mean age of 18.2±0.7 3 years. 81.66% girls attained menarche between 12 to 14 years of age. 3.66% girls attained early menarche and 0.33% girls attained menarche late. 19 had scanty menstrual bleeding and 7 suffered from secondary amenorrhea. 27 girls suffered from heavy menstrual bleeding. 78.3% adolescent girls had various degrees of dysmenorrhea with 8.66% had severe dysmenorrhea. 17.66% girls had high BMI and 11% girls for underweight.Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of menstrual disorders among adolescent girls which affects their social and academic lives. Thus, more attention should be paid to identify and treat these menstrual morbidities.