• Nahla Khamis Ibrahim, Manar Saleh AlGhamdi, Alanoud Nawaf Al-Shaibani, Fatima Ali AlAmri, Huda Abdulrahman Alharbi, Arwa Kheder Al-Jadani, and Raghad Ahmed Alfaidi.
• Nahla Khamis Ibrahim, Professor, Family & Community Medicine Dept., Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Epidemiology Department, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2015 Nov 1; 31 (6): 1312-7.

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence, predictors and outcome of dysmenorrhea among female medical students in King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 435 medical students at KAU, Jeddah selected through stratified random sample method. A pre-constructed, validated, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect personal and socio-demographic information. Data about menstrual history, stress, smoking were also collected. The severity of dysmenorrhea was scored by the "Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)". Descriptive and analytical statistics were conducted.ResultsThe prevalence of dysmenorrhea was 60.9%. Logistic regression showed that heavy period was the first predictor of dysmenorrhea (aOR=1.94; 95% CI: 1.29- 2.91), followed by stress (aOR=1.90; 95% C.I.: 1.19-3.07). The prevalence of severe dysmenorrhea among the sufferers was 38.6%. Depressed mood was the commonest (80.8%) symptom accompanying dysmenorrhea. Regarding the outcome of dysmenorrhea, 67.5% of the sufferes reported emotional instability, while 28.3% reported absenteeism from the university.ConclusionsA high prevalence of dysmenorrhea was prevalent among medical students in King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Health promotion, screening programs, and stress management courses are recommended.

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