Menstrual challenges and quality of life among medicals students - a cross sectional study

Background

Menstrual cycle abnormalities and irregularities have a substantial impact on women's quality of life. Because of their intense academic environments, female medical undergraduates are particularly sensitive to stress-induced menstrual problems. This study explores the effect of irregular menstrual cycle on quality of life among female medical undergraduates due to their stressful academic environment.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was done at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, India from March 2023 to March 2024. Aged 18–25 years among 625 female undergraduate students were participated. To collect data WHOQOL-BREF and PSST-A tools were used for quality of life and severity of menstrual syndrome respectively along with menstrual assessment abnormalities. SPSS version 22.0 was used for statistical analysis, P value < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results

The mean age of participants was 21.22 ± 1.30 years. The majority of participants (83.2 %) belonged to the upper middle class and from urban area (97.7 %). Menarche occurred at an average age of 12.45 years. 72.5 % reported having regular menstrual cycle, whereas 17 % reported having infrequent cycle. Dysmenorrhea was reported by 91.4 % of participants with moderate pain being the most common. Premenstrual syndrome was prevalent in 90.9 % of subjects, with 41.3 % of them had moderate to severe symptoms. Irregular menstrual cycle had an effect on the social, psychological and physical aspect of quality of life.

Conclusion

The High prevalence of dysmenorrhea, premenstrual syndrome and menstrual irregularities indicated that there is a need for interdisciplinary action to understand the persistent impact on medical students and make their lives easier.