Menstrual cycle among adolescents: girls' awareness and influence of age at menarche and overweight

• Autor(a) principal: Marques, Patricia
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Madeira, Tiago, Gama, Augusta
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/103477; https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-0462/2022/40/2020494
• topic: Menarche; Menstrual cycle; Adolescent obesity; Adolescent health; Menarca; Ciclo menstrual; Obesidade pediátrica; Saúde do adolescente; Adolescent; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Promotion; Humans; Menstrual Cycle; Surveys and Questionnaires; Menarche; Overweight

Objective: To characterize the menstrual cycle (regularity and menstrual flow length), the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and selfmonitoring of the cycle in students from Lisbon region, and explore the effect of chronological age, age at menarche and body mass index (BMI) on menstrual disorders. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with 848 girls aged 12–18 years. A questionnaire about the sociodemographic context and characteristics of the menstrual cycle, and weight and height measures were assessed. BMI was classified according to International Obesity Taskforce criteria. A descriptive analysis of the variables was made, and Odds Ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were determined. Results: Mean age at menarche was 12.4 years and mean BMI was 22.0kg/m2. Among adolescents, 59% have regular menstrual cycle, 83% have menstrual flow length of ≤6 days. 88% suffered from dysmenorrhea, among which 8,7% declare absenteeism from school and 49% took pain medication, and 65% self-monitor their menstrual cycle. Higher maternal education was associated with a higher self-monitoring of menstrual cycle among the sample (OR 1.60; 95%CI 1.15–2.17). Girls with menarche <12 years-of-age are more likely to have menstrual flow length of >6 days (OR 1.73; 95%CI 1.19–2.51) and dysmenorrhea (OR 1.87; 95%CI 1.11–3.16) than those with menarche ≥12 years-of-age. No significant association between BMI and menstrual cycle variables was observed. Conclusions: The results suggest that menstrual disorders are frequent and may be associated with early menarche, but not with BMI. It is important to encourage self-monitoring of the menstrual cycle to detect menstrual disorders timely and promote health and well-being.