~ 97 ~ International Journal of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2020; 4(1): 97-100 ISSN (P): 2522-6614 ISSN (E): 2522-6622 © Gynaecology Journal www.gynaecologyjournal.com 2020; 4(1): 97-100 Received: 14-11-2019 Accepted: 18-12-2019 Dr. Priyanka Rai Assistant Professor, Department of O.B.G., Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Uttar Pradesh, India Dr. Girija Kumari Associate Professor, Department of O.B.G., Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, Bihar, India Dr. Kalpana Kumari Junior Grade Professor, Department of O.B.G., Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Uttar Pradesh, India Dr. Deepshikha Jaiswal Senior Resident, Department of O.B.G., E.S.I. Basaidarapur, New Delhi, India Corresponding Author: Dr. Girija Kumari Associate Professor, Department of O.B.G., Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, Bihar, India Evaluation of correlation between body mass Index with menstrual cycle pattern among young female medical students Dr. Priyanka Rai, Dr. Girija Kumari, Dr. Kalpana Kumari and Dr. Deepshikha Jaiswal DOI: https://doi.org/10.33545/gynae.2020.v4.i1b.448 Abstract Introduction: Adolescence is a period of maturity, a point of physical, emotional, social and psychological change. Menstruation is described as the exclusive sign of femininity and it is a physical manifestation of complex endocrine axis. Body mass index or BMI have the most control over menstrual irregularity. The increasing trends in the prevalence of childhood obesity, early puberty and menarche, and ethnic racial differences in the effect of body mass index on the reproductive characteristics of young females around the world, warrant continuous evaluation. Hence, we aim to investigate possible variations in the influence of body mass index on the age at menarche as well as duration of menstrual cycle and menses in young girls. Material and Method: Present study was conducted on 300 young female medical students over a period of 18 months. Young and unmarried female medical students in the age group of 17-25 years of age group were included. Married or who were on treatment for menstrual problem or had primary amenorrhoea or undergone pelvic surgery were excluded. Structured questionnaire was used to determine the occurrence of menstrual problem. Body mass index was calculated and the collected data was analysed between the relationship parameter i.e. body mass index and menstrual abnormalities. Result: The mean age of the study population was 21.98 yrs. The mean of BMI in the study population was found to be 21.42kg/m 2 . Irregular menses (including short and long cycles) is highly significantly associated with underweight and overweight BMI as clear with P- value of 0.0001 and 0.0001 respectively. Irregular cycles were seen in 45 cases out of which 9 were having Polymenorrhea i.e. cycle length less than 21 days, 10 were having irregular cycle with no fixed length, and 26 were having oligomenorrhea. Out of 45 cases with irregular cycle 19 were in underweight category, 9 in overweight category, and 2 in obese class 2 and rest 15 in normal BMI category. Conclusion: The present study suggests alteration in body mass index was associated with changes in menstrual pattern. Maintaining the correct weight according to the height is utmost important to avoid so many menstrual irregularities as well as long term metabolic complications. Keywords: Body mass index or BMI, menstrual irregularities, Polymenorrhea, Oligomenorrhoea Introduction Menstruation is described as the exclusive sign of femininity. It is well known that the terms menstruation and menses are derived from the Latin word menses (month), which in turn relates to the Greek word ‘Mene’ (moon) and to the roots of the English word month reflecting the fact that the moon also takes close to 28 days to revolve around the Earth (actually 27.32 days). Factors that often play a role in the regularity and flow of a woman's menstrual cycle include hormonal changes, genetics, serious medical conditions and body mass index. Of all these factors, body mass index or BMI had the most control over menstrual irregularity. Having a high or low BMI may cause to experience an absence of menstruation, irregular menstruation and painful menstruation [1, 2] . Menstrual cycle irregularities and anovulation have been found to occur with increased frequency in women who deviate considerably from normal weight. A number of studies have shown that higher obesity grades were associated with higher probabilities of irregular pattern of menstrual cycles [3, 4] . The increasing trends in the prevalence of childhood obesity, early puberty and menarche, and ethno racial differences in the effect of BMI on the reproductive characteristics of young females around the world, warrant continuous evaluation.