Quality of Life of Women with Dysmenorrhea in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Abstract

Dysmenorrhea is a common problem, yet it is rarely taken into consideration when assessing adolescents' health and life experiences. The high prevalence of dysmenorrhea among adolescents especially in the early years of their reproductive life, influences their daily activities including school absenteeism, and is thus a public health problem (Fridman & Della, 2012). A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Feb-Oct 2019 in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and the quality of life among women from the view of physical functioning, emotional well-being and bodily pain. A total of 384 women have been selected by using purposive sampling technique and convenience sampling selection method. Data was collected using Short form 36 (SF 36) questionnaire. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 25.0. The response rate was 100%. Age of respondents were between 15 to 46 years old with the mean age of 24.67 ± 6.294 years. Results indicated that 76.3 % respondents are having dysmenorrhea. Generally, majority of respondents who are having dysmenorrhea are young adults who are 23 years old. Bivariate chi-square analysis indicated that social demographics are significantly associated with dysmenorrhea including age, race and marital status. Bivariate chi-square analysis also indicated that social economic is not significantly associated with dysmenorrhea including education level, occupational status and income level. Independent sample t-test showed that there is significant difference in quality of life (physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional and mental health) between women with dysmenorrhea and women without dysmenorrhea. Women with dysmenorrhea have low quality of life (physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional and mental health). Risk factors of age, race, and marital status will influence the occurrence of dysmenorrhea. Meanwhile risk factors of educational level, occupational status and income level did not influence the occurrence of dysmenorrhea. This study indicates that the occurrence of dysmenorrhea will influence their quality of life regarding in eight domains.