Prevalence and Associated Risks Factors for Menstrual Disorders among Undergraduate Students in Borno State, Nigeria

Background: Problems pertaining to menstruation are generally perceived among women as normal variation in body physiology and often not regarded as a serious health issue that requires public health attention. They only presents to our outpatient gynaecological clinics to seek medical attention when it become unbearable.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and assess the associated risks factors for menstrual disorders among undergraduates in Borno state.

Methodology: This was a cross sectional descriptive study, which was carried out among undergraduate students in Borno state, Nigeria. One thousand five hundred structured questionnaires were administered to ascertain the menstrual history, patterns, associated symptoms, any co existing gynaecological problem and abnormalities of menstruation.

Results: Majority (72.2%) of the respondents are nulliparous and only 514 (37.1%) have ever use any form of contraception while only 15.2% have ever experienced STDs or PID in the past. Normal menstruation was only observed among 33.5%, while the commonest menstrual abnormalities were dysmenorrhoea and premenstrual syndrome. Dysmenorrhoea and PMS are observed more in those age bracket <24years, There was observed strong association between past pregnancy with dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagea, PMS and oligomenorrhoea (P ≤ 0.001), while those who have not used any form of contraception have strong relationship with dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagea, polymenorrhoea and oligomenorrrhea with each having p ≤ 0.001. Equally the respondents who had STDs/PID have strong association to experienced dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagea, PMS, polymenorrhoea and oligomenorrhoea as complications of menstruation.

The commonest non gynaecological symptom observed among the respondents was headache accounting for 54.2%.

Conclusion: Abnormalities of menstruation is common among the undergraduate students in the study settings, the subjects in the study population should be enlightened through key stakeholders in the community at both formal (school, health institutions) and non formal (homes) settings to seek medical attention early to avert serious gynaecological conditions that may affect reproductive and sexual functions.