association between menstrual cycle regularity and obesity-related anthropometric indices in dormitory students of kashan university of medical sciences, iran

background & aim : a significant proportion of the women in reproductive ages suffer from problems such as menstrual irregularities. the aim of this study was to determine the association between menstrual cycle regularity and obesity-related anthropometric indices in students of kashan university of medical sciences in 2012. methods & materials : this cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted using a questionnaire through systematic random sampling at dormitory of kashan university of medical sciences from september to october 2012. the questionnaire contained demographic questions, menstrual cycle characteristics, anthropometric measurements and visual analog scale questionnaire for pain. a midwifery student measured obesity- related anthropometric measurements included waist, pelvis, thigh and mid-arm circumference, height and weight. results : a total of 250 students entered in the study. mean ± standard deviation (sd) age of students was 21.295 ± 1.585 years. irregular menstruation was seen in 17 students (6.8%). results showed a significant statistical between menstrual cycles regularity with height (md = −3.37, confidence interval [ci] = −6.039 to 0.703, p = 0.013), body mass index (bmi) (md = 1.654, ci = 0.199–3.109, p = 0.026), and pelvic-to-height ratio (md = 0.027, ci = 0.003–0.051, p = 0.023). mean ± sd duration and interval of menstrual cycles were 6.564 ± 1.3014 and 29.301 ± 4.821 days, respectively. based on the pearson correlation index, menstrual intervals showed significant statistical between waist-to-thigh (p = 0.010) and arm-to-thigh (p = 0.019) ratio, but showed no correlation with other anthropometric indices. in the univariate analysis to assess the unadjusted relationships, there were significant statistical between waist to-thigh and arm-to-thigh ratio with menstrual interval. conclusion : due to association between menstrual cycle regularity and obesity-related anthropometric indices, control of weight and bmi may lead to a reduction of menstrual irregularity.