Prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea Among undergraduate nursing Student and its management in School Of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan

• Main Author: Sidek, Nor Salasiah Mohd
• Format: Monograph
• Language: English
• Published: Pusat Pengajian Sains Kesihatan, Universiti Sains Malaysia 2011
• Subjects: RT Nursing
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/53876/1/NOR%20SALASIAH%20BINTI%20MOHD%20DSIDEK-Eprints.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/53876/

This study was to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and approaches taken by female degree nursing students in School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia in coping with menstrual pain. This is a cross sectional study and nonprobability convenience sampling of 129 female students (19 to 35 years old) from Year one to Year four. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and menstrual data. Pain intensity for dysmenorrhea was measured using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Prevalence of dysmenorrhea found was 75.2% and mostly occurred;;::: 4 years (33%) and 29.9% was not recalled. Pain was mostly occurs at the onset of menstruation period (65%) and lasted for less than 1 day (52.6%). It was felt in multiple locations but most commonly in the lower abdomen and lumbar region. Major symptoms associated with dysmenorrhea were abdominal cramps, irritability, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, frequency of micturition, constipation, as well as varying degrees of pain severity. Most respondents experienced mild to moderate degree of pain. Approaches taken to deal with dysmenorrhea were: consulting a physicians (22.7%), pharmacological (50.5%), and non-pharmacological strategies (93.8%). Medication was recommended mostly by friends (40.8%) and mothers (30.6%) and only took medication when became severe ( 49% ). More than one-third of the respondents did not know which drug they took. Major non-pharmacologic measures were: hot compress (48.5%), sleeping (74.2%), walking (12%), massaging (59.8%), listening to music (13.4%) and eating sweet foods (9.3%). Consulting a physician (p<0.05) was associated with the duration of pain and taking medication (p <0.05) was associated with severity of pain. Respondents should be encouraged to consult a physician and should be prescribed medication in addition to other measures to alleviate menstrual pain and shorten its duration.