VARIATIONS OF DYSMENORRHEA DURING STRESS AND NON STRESS CONDITION IN COLLEGE GOING GIRLS IN BELGAUM CITY: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: In India, prevalence of dysmenorrhea varies from 33% to 79.67% 1-5. Dysmenorrhea is the commonest cause of absenteeism among college going girls6-9. It is related to various factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, dietary habits, physical factors such as Body Mass Index (BMI) and menstrual factors such as age at menarche and duration of menstrual flow and emotional factors such as stress, anxiety and apprehension10. It is of immense importance to study the factors determining the variations in dysmenorrhea due to stress related conditions. Objective: To study the variations of dysmenorrhea during stress in college going girls in Belagavi city. With an objective to study the variations of dysmenorrhea during non-stress condition in college going girls in Belagavi city and to to study the variations of dysmenorrhea during stressful and non-stressful conditions among college going girls in Belagavi city. Methods: A total of 400 college going adolescent girls were screened for primary dysmenorrhea and pathological difficulties, malignancy and parity were excluded from the study. Confirmation of Primary Dysmenorrhea was done using Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire. Once confirmed, all participants were subjected to councelling, taking into consideration the various risk factors and awareness about diet and regular physical exercise was conducted. Results: The present study proved that BMI was an independent risk factor among dysmenorrhic girls with the onset of symptoms occurring mostly among the early age group i.e 20.9 years. This study also proved the alternate hypothesis true i.e there was a positive and significant co-relation between each component taken in MMDQ with the mean values peaking mostly in the stress group than in non stress group with the values of 124 and 76.7 respectively. Conclusion: The present study concluded that there was a significant variation in dysmenorrhea during stress and non stress condition in college going girls.