Prevalence of Dysmenorrhea in Different Age Groups

Abstract

Dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation) is one of the major gynecological problems, encountered in women of reproductive age. It accounts for more than 1/4th gynaec patients’ visits to the gynecologist. The pain may be spasmodic or congestive type and occurs in lower abdomen, low back or in the thighs. It starts one or two days before onset of menstruation and continues for two days with same intensity or sometimes the pain decreases with the onset of menstruation. Among the forms of dysmenorrhea, the most frequent form occurs in general is spasmodic type in which the pain is colicky in nature and is felt mainly in the hypogastric region and may radiate to the thighs. The present study was designed and conducted to estimate the prevalence of dysmenorrhea in gynecological patients who attended OPD of Department of Ilmul Qabalat wa Amraze Niswan, National Institute of Unani Medicine, Bangalore, during the second half of the year 2013. Out of 824 gynecological cases, 117 patients were of dysmenorrhea. Among them most patients were of reproductive age between 12 and 47 years, both unmarried and married. A detailed history was taken to sort out the cases according to the type, origin of pain and associated symptoms. For this study, the hospital data were taken for finding the prevalence of dysmenorrhea in the target group.

Keywords: Gynecological problem, observation, dysmenorrhea and prevalence