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EFFECT OF DYSMENORRHEA ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS IN ADIKPO, KWANDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BENUE STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of the Study

Dysmenorrhea is a disorder involving pain that arises in the inguinal region during or just before menstrual bleeding and which is common in reproductive age of women. The disorder is commonly presented by late adolescence in which 75% of girls experience some problems associated with menstruation. Generally, dysmenorrhea is classified into two broad categories as primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea.

Primary dysmenorrhea is pain during menstrual bleeding without any identifiable pathological lesion and usually begins during adolescent. It is considered as primary when there is no evidence of apparent pelvic pathology. It is unusual for symptoms to start within first six months after menarche. Affected women experience sharp, intermittent spasm of pain usually concentrated in the supra pubic area. Pain may radiate to the back of the legs or the lower back. Systemic symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, mild fever and headache or lightheadedness are fairly common. Pain usually develops within hours of the start of the menstruation and peaks as the flow becomes heaviest during the first day or two of the cycle (7). It is also a public health problem because of its high prevalence (8).

Unlike primary dysmenorrhea, secondary dysmenorrhea (congestive dysmenorrhea) (8) is menstrual pain associated with underlying organic pathology such as endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, intra-uterine devices, irregular cycles or infertility problems, ovaran cysts, adenomyosis, uterine myomas or polyps, intra-uterine adhesions, or cervical stenosis, and its onset may be years after menarche (9).

Primary dysmenorrhea is believed to be associated with many factors including behavioral and psychological aspects. It has been shown that dysmenorrhea among adolescents can adversely affect their personal life causing limitation of their social and academic performance. A study done on Prevalence and Impact of Dysmenorrhea on Hispanic female adolescents found that among participants who had had a menstruation in the previous 3 months, 85% reported dysmenorrhea. Of these, 38% reported missing school due to dysmenorrhea during the 3 months prior to the survey and 33% reported missing individual classes (10).

Furthermore, it is a common cause of sickness and absenteeism from both classes and work by females (11). A study done in Mexican university students found that dysmenorrhea affects 65% of student’s daily activities (2). Based on this study the characteristics of menstrual factors that

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