Author(s): Alka Ahuja, Manoj Kumar Sharma and Amarjeet Singh
Objective: A study was conducted to ascertain the impact of dysmenorrhea on quality life of adolescent girls of Chandigarh. Methods: Multistage stratified sampling was done and 5 sectors, 5 villages, 5 slums were selected by lottery method. Then from each area 20 respondents were selected by simple random sampling. A Self-designed interview schedule was used to collect data from 300 Adolescent girls (11-18 years) of Chandigarh during January-May 2012. Demographic & family profile, Menstrual history, symptoms of dysmenorrhea, effect of pain on daily activities, Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to document severity of pain. Results: Majority of girls 184 (61.33%) reported dysmenorrhea. Some of the girls 50 (27%) told that it interfered with their tolerance to stand for long periods whereas one fourth 45 (24.45%) girls said that dysmenorrhea interfered with going to school/office. VAS scale showed that 271 (90.34%) of the girls felt unhappy during menstruation. Conclusion: Dysmenorrhea profoundly affected the Quality of life of adolescent girls.
