Prevalence of Dysmenorrhea and Related Co-morbidities among Adolescent Female Students in a Tertiary Institution in South South Nigeria

Dysmenorrhoea with its co-morbidities are about the common gynaecological disorders among adolescent girls. The prevalence of dysmenorrhoea and its co-morbidities are largely unreported and as a result, no national or international attention has been paid to it. This type of study has not been done in this part of the country. It therefore became necessary to evaluate the occurrence of dysmenorrhoea and its co-morbidities among adolescent girls in a tertiary institution in South South Nigeria and compare it with similar ones elsewhere. The cross-sectional study was carried out using a structured questionnaire that captured dysmenorrhoea and its co-morbidities. A total of one thousand students were used for the study. Our results show that 78.5% of respondents had dysmenorrhoea. 34.6% had irregular menstrual cycles, 33.3% had dysmenorrhoea from onset of menarche. Dysmenorrhoea interferes with daily routines in 60.3% of dysmenmorhoeics. Academic work and social live was affected in 72.5% and 66.2% of respondents respectively. There was a positive correlation between irregular menstruation and dysmenorrhoea. There was also a negative correlation between dysmenorrhoea and academic, social and other daily routines. We conclude that the prevalence of dysmenorrhoea is high in the tertiary Institution and is negatively correlated with academic, routine and social activities.