PRIMARY DYSMENHORREA, ITS EFFECTS AND REMEDIES USED AMONG YOUNG FEMALES OF DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Fakhsheena Anjum, Noor Jahan, Sana Ghayas*, Shumaila Shoaib, Nighat Tanveer, Warda Naseem and Anam Muzaffar

This study was conducted to reveal primary dysmenorrhea and its effects in young females belonging to various universities in Karachi, Pakistan. Remedies used to alleviate the undesired effects were also determined using a structured questionnaire. A structured questionnaire was filled by 621 subjects in the presence of the study researchers after taking their consent. The survey was conducted from March to May 2012. The results of the study showed that dysmenorrhea was mild in 28.8% (n=179), moderate in 36.9% (n=229) and severe in 15.8% (n=98) subjects. The age of menarche of majority of the females was 12-15 years with 85% (n=528) having regular and 15 % (n=93) having irregular menstruation. The most frequently reported associated symptoms were abdominal pain in 75.04% (n=466) females, headache in 15.62% (n=97), nausea in 20.45% (n=27) and vomiting in 7.41% (n=46) females. Only 9.33% (n=58) of the females consulted physicians, 33.5% (n=208) self medicated and 66.3% (n=412) took no action for their pain. Conventional medicine was used by 26.41% (n=164) females, household remedies by 9.02% (n=56), herbal by 2.89% (n=18) and homeopathic by 2.41 % (n=15) females. Paracetamol, ibuprofen and mefenemic acid were reported as commonly used allopathic medicines for dysmenorrhea; green tea, black caraway, coriander/ginger tea were used as herbal remedies whereas hot milk, boiled eggs and hot water bottles were used as household remedies by the participating females. Dysmenorrhea also affected different activities and performances of 52.3% (n=325) subjects; stress and depression affected 33.17% (n=207) subjects. Various symptoms contribute to severity of primary dysmenorrhea in which abdominal pain, headache and nausea are prevalent among the females. Due to this, activities and performances of young females are disturbed to quite much extent. The need for awareness regarding primary dysmenorrhea among young females is necessary and should be addressed by health care professionals and health related educational programs.