August 2022 · Volume 11 · Issue 8 Page 2158 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Varghese L et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Aug;11(8):2158-2165 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Original Research Article Menstrual irregularities and related risk factors among adolescent girls Linda Varghese*, Akhila Saji, Parvathy Bose INTRODUCTION Adolescent is the transitional stage of life in between childhood and adulthood and experienced by physical, mental and psychological changes. When the girls attain puberty, they were passing through a stage of menstruation. Menstruation is a period in which vaginal secretion, blood, cervical mucus flow from uterus of non- pregnant women. 1 First period of menstruation is called menarche. Menstrual irregularities are the common problems faced by girls during their period. Due to the adaptation of new life style, menstrual irregularities are very common in adolescent girls. 2 Menstrual disorders are the difficulties which interfere normal menstrual cycle of an adolescent girls they involve painful menstruation, absence of bleeding or heavy bleeding. There are various menstrual disorders that are differ in signs and symptoms. There are so many factors which causes menstrual irregularities like hormonal influences, lack of exercises, thyroid problems, food habits. 3,4 Menstrual irregularities are the one of the main reasons for school absenteeism among adolescent girls. Dysmenorrhea, irregularities in menstrual flow such as amenorrhea, polymenorrhagia, oligomenorrhea are the common problems seen in adolescent girls. 4 Menstrual problem around adolescent girls are usual and notable source of morbidity. 5,6,18 Another study suggested the DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20221929 Department of OBG Nursing, Amrita College of Nursing, Health Sciences Campus, Kochi, Kerala, India Received: 25 May 2022 Revised: 01 July 2022 Accepted: 02 July 2022 *Correspondence: Linda Varghese, E-mail: lindasojan@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Irregular menstrual cycle is a common issue faced by females in their reproductive age group. Problems associated with menstruation are really challenging faced by adolescent girls. Females face various problems associated with menstruation once they attain puberty. The main aim of the study was to identify menstrual irregularities and related risk factors among adolescent girls in selected district, Kerala. Methods: Descriptive survey design and total enumeration sampling technique was used for the study. The study was conducted in 356 adolescent girls between the age group of 17-22 years. Data was collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the adolescent girls was 20 years. Majority of them belong to middle-class family (97.2%) with normal BMI (68%). 84% (299) girls have regular menstrual cycle and 16% of the girls have irregular menstrual cycle. Only 24 (6.7%) of girls have amenorrhea. Considerable number of adolescent girls 51 (14.3%) had light menstrual flow. More than half (65%) of the adolescent girls had menorrhagia. Polymenorrhagiais experienced by 11 (3.1%) of adolescent girls. Dysmenorrhea was present in 264 (94%) girls followed by menometrorrhagia (16%) and oligomenorrhea (14.9%). Conclusions: Menstrual irregularities are very common in reproductive age group of females and the common menstrual irregularities found were dysmenorrhea, oligomenorrhea and menometrorrhagia. Hypomenorrhea and menometrorrhagia has significant association with age. Keywords: Menstrual irregularities, Adolescent girls menstruation, Dysmenorrhea