The Pattern and Intensity of Primary Dysmenorrhea in the Students Residing in the Dormitories of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences Between March 2017 and March 2018

Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the pattern and intensity of primary dysmenorrhea in the students residing in the dormitories of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran, between March 2017 and March 2018. Methods: The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a population comprising all the undergraduate students residing in the dormitories of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Simple random sampling and a statistical formula were used to select 160 students. The data collected were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics, the chi-squared test and parametric and non-parametric variance analyses. Results: The majority (70%) of the study students suffered mild-to-moderate dysmenorrhea, while the remaining developed severe dysmenorrhea. Analgesics were used by 64.37% of the subjects to relieve dysmenorrhea. The dysmenorrhea intensity caused 43.75% of the students to miss the classes. Conclusions: Given the importance of dysmenorrhea, its effect on women’s quality of life and its inhibitory effects on daily activities, more attention is required to be paid to raising public awareness of the ways of alleviating dysmenorrhea.