Volume 26, Issue 122, April 2022

Perception and health care seeking towards dysmenorrhea among female students at Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Imad Ali Aljahdali¹, Alaa Alharbi², Afnan Alalyani², Jana Alhadhrami², Ruba Alotaibi², Sarah Alduayah², Shahad Bamerdah², Mokhtar Mahfouz Shatla^1,3♦

¹Department of Community Medicine and Pilgrimage Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Alqura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
²Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
³Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shebin Alkoum, Egypt

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Community Medicine and Pilgrimage Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Alqura University, Makkah, KSA, and Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shebin Alkoum, Egypt

ABSTRACT

Background: Some women experience dysmenorrhea (painful cramps during menstruation) which can significantly affect their daily activities. We purposed to assess the perception and health care seeking towards dysmenorrhea among students of Umm al-Qura University in Makkah. Methods: This cross section study directed to Umm Al-Qura undergraduate female students aging 18 to 30 years was conducted during the period from September to October 2021. We collected data using online questionnaire, which covered student’s socio-demographic data, dysmenorrhea clinical data, student’s perception towards dysmenorrhea and healthcare seeking. Results: Exact of 412 participants with mean age of 20.5 ± 1.7 years old were included. Of them, exact 373 (90.5%) experienced dysmenorrhea during their menstrual cycle. The dysmenorrhea was severe among 167 (44.8%), moderate among 176 (47.2%), and mild among 30 (8.0%). The frequently reported self-care practices towards dysmenorrhea were home remedies (44.2%), followed by ignoring the pain (23.6%), and self-medication (23.3%). Only 54 (14.55%) students consulted a health-care profession for dysmenorrhea. A total of 198 (53.1%) students had good perception level towards dysmenorrhea. Conclusions: High dysmenorrhea prevalence was noted. About half of participants showed good perception level towards dysmenorrhea except for being undesirable and bothersome pain. The pain was moderate to severe among the majority of females contributing to social withdrawal, lack of concentration, and poor academic performance.

Keywords: Dysmenorrhea, perception, health care seeking

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms145e2090

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i122/ms145e2090

Published: 23 April 2022