Prevalence of Menstrual Abnormality in Adolescent Girls

Menstrual disorders are common sources of morbidity among adolescent girls and often cause anxiety for these girls and their families. To determine the patterns of menstruation as well as the prevalence of menstrual disorders among adolescent girls in south Chennai. The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. The data were collected from 300 adolescent girls from Out-patient clinic and In-patients of Gynaecology department, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital and also from schools and colleges from south Chennai. Data was collected by adopting a structured questionnaire on prevalence of menstrual irregularity among adolescent girls in the age group of 13-19 years. 300 adolescent girls completed the questionnaires in the age between 13 and 19 years. Among which 66% were from urban and 34% from rural. Girls were from socio economic status I to V and maximum in the lower middle group. The mean age of menarche was 12.3 years. BMI is significantly associated with menstrual disorders. The most common menstrual problem seen in adolescent girls is dysmenorrhea (38%) followed by HMB (27%), oligomenorrhea (21%), and polymenorrhea (11%) and hypomenorrhea of 3%. Among 300 girls,36% of girls had awareness about menstruation before menarche and 64% were unaware of it. The prevalence of menstrual disorders among adolescents girls in south Chennai is high, so, steps to be undertaken for early diagnosis and prompt treatment.Health education among adolescents and their mothers about menstrual disorders and to mitigate their effects on the social and academic lives of these adolescents should be made.