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Practices and perceptions of adolescent girls regarding the impact of dysmenorrhea on their routine life: a comparative study in the urban, rural, and slum areas of Chandigarh

  • Alka Rani EMAIL logo , Manoj Kumar Sharma and Amarjeet Singh
Published/Copyright: February 12, 2015

Abstract

To estimate the prevalence, to compare the impact of dysmenorrhea on routine life among adolescent girls, to compare the practices and perceptions regarding Dysmenorrhea and to ascertain the reason for difference if any, a cross-sectional study was conducted in urban, rural and slum areas of Chandigarh, India. 300 girls in age group of 11–18 years, who had attained menarche were included in the study. A questionnaire including the Demographic and Family profile, menstrual history, Symptoms of Dysmenorrhea, Effect of pain on daily activities, Faces scale, Practices regarding Dysmenorrhea, Beliefs about menstruation was used. Analysis was done by percentage and chi square prevalance of dysmenorrhea was 61.33%. Sickness absenteeism due to dysmenorrhea was reported in 24.45% girls. Most common symptom experienced by the girls was stomach ache which was experienced by 139 girls; others symptoms experienced during menstruation were backache (107), and general body pain (80). Only 11.63% of the girls ever visited physician due to pain during menstruation. During menstruation only 10 girls use hot water bottle, 71 skip meal. Due to poor knowledge the practices were not optimal for pain management, which affected their school attendance. Formal as well as informal channels of communication, such as mothers and peers, need to be emphasized for the delivery of such information particularly linking instructions on menstrual hygiene to an expanded programme of health education in schools.


Corresponding author: Alka Rani, Centre for Public Health, Panjab University, Sec 14 Chandigarh, 160014, India, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

I wish to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to God, my family, our coordinator, Dr. Vijay Lakshmi Sharma, my guide Dr. Manoj Kumar Sharma, and my co-guide, Dr. Amarjeet Singh, for his exemplary guidance, monitoring, and constant encouragement throughout the course of my work. The blessing, help, and guidance given by my colleagues, Dr. Geetu Malhotra and Dr. Puja Dudeja, also enabled me to complete this work.

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Received: 2014-10-1
Accepted: 2014-11-22
Published Online: 2015-2-12
Published in Print: 2016-2-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

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