TITLE:
Primary Dysmenorrhea; Prevalence, Treatment Practices and Impact among High School Students in 2 Secondary Schools in Bafoussam
AUTHORS:
Takang William Ako, Egbe Thomas Obichemti, Fouelifack Ymele Florent, Wateh Pierre
KEYWORDS:
Primary Dysmenorrhoea, High School, Students, Impact, Academic Performance
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.12 No.8,
August
17,
2022
ABSTRACT: Background: Primary dysmenorrhea is defined as pelvic pain during menstrual flow in
the absence of a pelvic pathology. It is one of the most common gynaecological
complaints worldwide and the most common cause of school and work absenteeism
among menstruating females. In adolescent students the impact includes reduced attention in class, inability to study at
home, school absenteeism among others. Yet these students have to study
at the same pace as their peers, raising the concern of whether the problems
caused by primary dysmenorrhea have an effect
on academic their academic performance. Aim: Determine the prevalence, treatment practices and impact of primary dysmenorrhea
on the studies of post-pubertal high school students in Bafoussam. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive and analytic study design using a
two-stage sampling method; the first stage was by convenience to choose the
school, and the second stage was consecutive to recruit the students. Data was collected using a semi-structured
pretested self-report and anonymous questionnaire. Analysis was done
using software IBM?SPSS statistics
version 23 for windows. Categorical variables were summarised in to frequencies and percentages while the comparison of categorical variables was
done using a Chi-square test, and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: our
sample size was 898 and the mean age of our respondents (±SD) was 17.6 (±1.6) years.
The prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea
was 71.9%, with 11.6% mild pain, 52.5% moderate pain and 35.9% severe pain on a
visual analogue scale. Over 38% did not attempt pain-relieving measures
while others took analgesics, traditional preparations, heat packs among
others. Among these students, 39% reported school absenteeism due to pain,
other impacts were decreased attention in class, inability to study at home
during pain and punishment from school authorities for failing to fulfil
certain duties like assignments not done or absenteeism because of pain. Though a greater proportion of students without
dysmenorrhea had pass scores than their counterparts, the difference was
not statistically significant. Conclusion: Given these findings, school
officials may benefit from considering dysmenorrhea in the context of improving
their school attendance rates and academic performance of their students.