Survey study, 2016
How common are menstrual problems in teenage girls?
Among 285 teenage girls in Egypt, about 66% had period pain, 56% had PMS, and various cycle disorders affected about 8 to 9 percent of girls.
What they did
Researchers surveyed 285 female students at a university hospital in Egypt using a questionnaire. They asked about age at first period, cycle length and regularity, period duration and amount of flow, and PMS symptoms.
What they found
Mean age at first period was 12.3 ± 1.5 years. 66% reported period pain, with 28.4% describing it as mild, 24.2% as moderate, and 13.3% as severe. 56.1% reported PMS. Other disorders included irregular periods (8.4%), too-infrequent periods (6.3%), too-frequent periods (1.8%), light periods (8.8%), and heavy periods (4.2%). Only 12.6% consulted someone about their menstrual problems.
What it means for you
Menstrual problems are very common in teenage girls and may affect their quality of life and school attendance, but most girls don't seek help. Findings are similar to other countries studied.
66%
had period pain
56.1%
had PMS
12.6%
consulted someone about problems
About the study
- Original title
- Nature and Prevalence of Menstrual Disorders among Teenage Female Students at Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
- Authors
- Nooh AM, Abdul-Hady A, El-Attar N
- Journal
- Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology
- Year
- 2016
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 188
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2015.08.008
Topics
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