Dysmenorrhea in Siriraj medical students; prevalence, quality of life, and knowledge of management.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea, effect on daily activity, academic activities, quality of life, and knowledge of management in Siriraj medical students. MATERIAL AND METHOD A cross-sectional descriptive study at the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand that included 552 female medical students who were asked to complete two questionnaires. The first questionnaire (32 items) included demographic data, menstrual pattern, severity of dysmenorrhea, pain score, impact of dysmenorrhea on daily and academic activities, the method and knowledge of medications to treat dysmenorrhea. The second questionnaire was Short Form (SF)-36 questionnaires used to evaluate the health-related quality of life. RESULTS The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 77.7%. The prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe dysmenorrhea was 35.3%, 39.3%, and 3.1% respectively. Age of menarche, duration of menses, and the family history of dysmenorrhea were significantly different between two groups. Students who had moderate to severe dysmenorrhea reported the negative impact on daily and academic activities. The scores of SF-36 in moderate and severe group was significantly lower than the mild group (p < 0.001). In the moderate to severe dysmenorrhea group, 82.9% and 66.7% of participants used mefenamic acid and paracetamol for pain relief respectively. CONCLUSION Dysmenorrhea in medical students has high prevalence and it has negative effects on daily activities, academic activities, and quality of life. Most of the subjects know that mefenamic acid and/or paracetamol can relief dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea is a significant public health problem.