Perception of Dysmenorrhea and Its Relationship to School Activities among Senior Secondary School Students in Nnewi, Nigeria

Introduction: Dysmenorrhea is one of the commonest disorders of menstruation afflicting women of reproductive age. It is a cause of lost time from school and work among such women.

Objectives: This study was carried out to determine the perception of dysmenorrhea and its effect on school activities among senior secondary school students in Nnewi-North Local Government Area, Anambra State.

Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study in which information was elicited from 215 senior secondary school students selected by multi-stage sampling technique.

Results: The predominant age group of respondents was 15-19 years. Among the 215 students, 203 had attained menarche but only 143(70.4%) experienced dysmenorrhea. Also 143 perceived menarche as a normal pain that came with menstruation while 60 regarded it as a sign of some abnormality in the body. Menstrual pain led to impaired concentration in class among 56 (39.2%) of student, missing school/classes by 10(7%) students, and not participating in games by 12 (8.4%) student. However, 25(17.5%) of respondents saw a doctor for their pain, while the rest resorted to self-medication and other non-pharmacological means of pain relief.

Conclusion: The prevalence of dysmenorrhea was high among the students and it affected several school activities adversely. However, several wrong practices have been adopted by majority of the students to tackle their condition.

Recommendation: A proper orientation on dysmenorrhea should be given to parents and teachers of students at the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) meeting to enable them address properly, all matters related to this condition.