Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jan 15;18(1):18.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-018-0516-1.

Prevalence of dysmenorrhea and predictors of its pain intensity among Palestinian female university students

Heba A Abu Helwa  1 , Areen A Mitaeb  1 , Suha Al-Hamshri  2 , Waleed M Sweileh  3
Affiliations

Prevalence of dysmenorrhea and predictors of its pain intensity among Palestinian female university students

Heba A Abu Helwa et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Few studies on gynaecological problems of young females in Arab countries were published. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and predictors of its pain among university students in Palestine.

Methods: A cross - sectional study was carried out on a randomly selected sample of An-Najah National University female students. A pre-designed questionnaire, which included questions regarding menstrual cycle, pain during menstruation, life style, nutritional habits, and symptoms associated with menstrual pain, was used. Pain intensity was measured using visual analogue scale.

Results: A total of 956 female students were involved in the study. Of the total study sample, 846 (85.1%) reported having pain during menstruation; i.e. dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea was significantly [(p = 0.027); OR = 1.5, 95% CI (1.05-2.19)] associated with age at menarche. The mean score of pain among dysmenorrhic females was 6.79 ± 2.64. The majority (654; 80.34%) of dysmenorrhic females reported having moderate/ severe pain. Univariate analysis using Chi-square test for factors associated with moderate/severe pain among dysmenorrhic females were irregular cycle [(p = 0.015); OR = 1.57, 95% CI = (1.09-2.30)], skipping breakfast [(p < 0.001); OR = 1.93, 95% CI = (1.33-2.79)], academic specialization [(p = 0.03; OR = 2.2, 95% CI = (1.21-3.98)] for medical specialization with reference to students in humanities), high stress level [(p = 0.036; OR = 1.53, 95% CI = (1.03-2.28)], and living in dormitories [(p = 0.034); OR = 1.72, 95% CI = (1.04-2.86)]. Multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression enter method showed that medical specialization [(p = 0.045); OR = 1.92, 95% CI = (1.02-3.64)] for medical students with reference to students in humanities), skipping breakfast [(p = 0.001); OR = 1.96, 95% CI = (1.35-2.86)], and irregular cycle [(p = 0.022); OR = 1.56, 95% CI = (1.07-2.29)] were the only significant predictors of moderate/severe dysmenorrhic pain.

Conclusion: There is a high proportion of dysmenorrhea among Palestinian female university students. Skipping breakfast was the strongest predictor for moderate/severe dysmenorrhea. Increased awareness regarding factors that might influence the intensity of dysmenorrhic pain is needed.

Keywords: Dysmenorrhea; Palestine; University students.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Students included in the study were asked to give verbal consent based on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of An-Najah National University approval obtained for this study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

    1. Abd El-Mawgod MM, Alshaibany AS, Al-Anazi AM. Epidemiology of dysmenorrhea among secondary-school students in northern Saudi Arabia. J Egypt Public Health Assoc. 2016;91(3):115–119. doi: 10.1097/01.EPX.0000489884.20641.95. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Abdul-Razzak KK, Obeidat BA, Al-Farras MI, Dauod AS. Vitamin D and PTH status among adolescent and young females with severe dysmenorrhea. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2014;27(2):78–82. doi: 10.1016/j.jpag.2013.07.005. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Potur DC, Bilgin NC, Komurcu N. Prevalence of dysmenorrhea in university students in Turkey: effect on daily activities and evaluation of different pain management methods. Pain Manag Nurs. 2014;15(4):768–77. doi: 10.1016/j.pmn.2013.07.012. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ibrahim NK, Alghamdi MS, Al-Shaibani AN, Alamri FA, Alharbi HA, Al-Jadani AK, Alfaidi RA. Dysmenorrhea among female medical students in king abdulaziz university: prevalence, predictors and outcome. Pak J Med Sci. 2015;31(6):1312–1317. doi: 10.12669/pjms.316.8752. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mohamed EM. Epidemiology of dysmenorrhea among adolescent students in Assiut city, Egypt. Life Science Journal. 2012;9(1):348–353.