The Effect of Stress on Menstrual Dysfunction in Female Students of Higher Educational Institutions in Moscow

Olesya Lesnaya, Tatiana Mansur, Nadezhda Lesnaya, Natalya Ketova, Nikolay Sturov

Abstract


Background: Gynecological morbidity in women of young reproductive age remains an urgent issue in modern medicine. Along with many adverse factors affecting the health of girls and young women, who should be considered as expectant mothers, stress takes one of the leading positions.


Objective: To study the level of stress in female students with menstrual dysfunction.


Materials and methods: 136 female students from 18 to 23 years old (average age 19.3 ± 2.6 years). All of the participants completed a questionnaire compiled by the authors on the basis of standard questions in collecting general and gynecological anamnesis, criteria for diagnosing premenstrual syndrome, psychological stress scale PSM-25 (fully included, no changes), and Beck scale (fully included, no changes). The following features of the menstrual cycle were studied: cycle duration, menstruation duration, profusion, soreness, and regularity of menstruation as well as the presence of psycho-emotional changes during the phase changes of the cycle. A systematic review was carried out of 25 studies (review articles, qualitative studies, questionnaires, retrospective and prospective studies) published in Russian and English from 2000 to 2019 (with a predominant including (88%) data for the last 10 years) using the PubMed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest and GoogleScholar databases.


Results: 82.4% (n = 112) of the examined female students had various menstrual dysfunctions; the highest frequency was premenstrual syndrome (91.1%) and primary dysmenorrhea (85.7%). Students with high levels of stress and depression expressed significantly more often (p <0.05) with irregular rhythms of menstruation in comparison to the healthy group.


Conclusions: It is recommended to physicians take into account the stress influence on gynecological pathology, while the awareness of young women about their health status should also be raised.

Keywords


Stress; Menstrual cycle; Dysmenorrhea; Premenstrual syndrome; Female students.

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abdallah, A. R., & Gabr, H. M. (2014). Depression, anxiety and stress among first year medical students in an Egyptian public university. International Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, 2(1), 11–19.

Abu Helwa, H. A., Mitaeb, A. A., Al-Hamshri, S., & Sweileh, W. M. (2018). Prevalence of dysmenorrhea and predictors of its pain intensity among Palestinian female university students. BMC Women’s Health, 18(1), 18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0516-1

Adhikari, A., Dutta, A., Sapkota, S., Chapagain, A., Aryal, A., & Pradhan, A. (2017). Prevalence of poor mental health among medical students in Nepal : a cross-sectional study. BMC Medical Education, 17(232), 1– 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-017-1083-0

Arslantaş, H., Abacigil, F., & Çinakli, Ş. (2018). Relationship between premenstrual syndrome and basic personality traits: A cross-sectional study. Sao Paulo Medical Journal, 136(4), 339–345. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2018.0061240418

Azis, A. A., Kurnia, N., Hartati, & Purnamasari, A. B. (2018). Menstrual cycle length in women ages 20-30 years in Makassar. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1028, 012019. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1028/1/012019

Banikarim, C., Chacko, M. R., & Kelder, S. H. (2000). Prevalence and impact of dysmenorrhea on hispanic female adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 154(12), 1226. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.154.12.1226

De Sanctis, V., Soliman, A. T., Elsedfy, H., Soliman, N. A., Soliman, R., & El Kholy, M. (2016). Dysmenorrhea in adolescents and young adults: A review in different country. Acta Bio Medica Atenei Parmensis, 87(3), 233–246.

Delara, M., & Woodgate, R. L. (2015). Psychological Distress and its Correlates among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 28(4), 240–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2014.08.012

Fuad, M. D. F., Lye, M. S., Ibrahim, N., Ismail, S. I. F., & Kar, P. C. (2015). Prevalence and risk factors of stress , anxiety and depression among preclinical medical students in Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2014. International Journal of Collaborative Research on Internal Medicine & Public Health, 7(1), 1–12.

Gómez, A. S. (2020). Psychosocial Factors and Clinical Predictors of Suicide Risk in College Students. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/mjcp-2602

Jafri, S. A. M., Zaidi, E., Aamir, I. S., Aziz, H. W., Imad-ud-Din, & Shah, M. A. H. (2017). Stress level comparison of medical and non-medical students: a cross sectional study done at various professional colleges in Karachi , Pakistan. Acta Psychopathologica, 3(2), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.4172/2469-6676.100080

Hillen, T. I. J., Grbavac, S. L., Johnston, P. J., Straton, J. A. Y., & Keogh, J. M. F. (1999). Primary dysmenorrhea in young Western Australian women: Prevalence, impact, and knowledge of treatment. Journal of Adolescent Health, 25(1), 40–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(98)00147-5

Islam, M. A., Low, W. Y., Tong, W. T., Yuen, C. W., & Abdullah, A. (2018). Factors associated with depression among University Students in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study. KnE Life Sciences, 415-427. https://doi.org/10.18502/kls.v4i4.2302

Karout, N., Hawai, S. M., & Altuwaijri, S. (2012). Prevalence and pattern of menstrual disorders among Lebanese nursing students. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 18(4), 346–352. https://doi.org/10.26719/2012.18.4.346

Kulsoom, B., & Afsar, N. A. (2015). Stress , anxiety , and depression among medical students in a multiethnic setting. Neuropsychiatric Diseases and Treatment, 11, 1713–1722. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S83577

Kupriyanov, R. V., & Kuzmin, Y. (2012). Psikhodiagnostika stressa: Praktikum [Psychodiagnosis of stress: Workshop]. Kazan: KNITU. (in Russian)

Kuznetsova, I. V. (2018). Narusheniye menstrual’nogo tsikla: Chto my podrazumevayem pod etim? Prolaktin shtorm. Sistematizatsiya menstrual’nykh narusheniy [Menstrual disorder: What do we mean by this? Prolactin storm. Systematization of menstrual irregularities]. Moscow: Editorial office of StatusPraesens. (in Russian)

Malik, R., & Bhat, M. D. A. (2018). The management of Premenstrual syndrome: A review. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, 17(1), 16–20. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v17i1.35273

Maniam, J., Antoniadis, C., & Morris, M. J. (2014). Early-life stress, HPA Axis adaptation, and mechanisms contributing to later health outcomes. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2014.00073

Nagma, S., Kapoor, G., Bharti, R., Batra, A., Batra, A., Aggarwal, A., & Sablok, A. (2015). To evaluate the effect of perceived stress on menstrual function. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research: JCDR, 9(3), QC01. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2015/6906.5611

Palm-Fischbacher, S., & Ehlert, U. (2014). Dispositional resilience as a moderator of the relationship between chronic stress and irregular menstrual cycle. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 35(2), 42–50. https://doi.org/10.3109/0167482X.2014.912209

Pavlova, N. V., Sveshnikov, A. A., & Khvostova, S. A. (2013). Vliyaniye izmeneniy v menstrual’nom tsikle na mineral’nuyu plotnost’ kostey skeleta u studentok pri ekzamenatsionnom stresse [The influence of changes in the menstrual cycle on the mineral density of skeleton bones in students during examination stress]. Fundamental Research, 1(7), 143–148. (in Russian)

Odacı, H., & ÇİKRIKCİ, Ö. (2017). An exploration of the associations among internet use, depression, anxiety and stress among youths. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/2017.5.1635

Ramlan, H., Shafri, N. I., Wahab, S., Kamarudin, M. A., Rajikan, R., Wahab, N. A. A., & Damanhuri, H. A. (2020). Depression, Anxiety and Stress in Medical Students: An Early Observation Analysis. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/mjcp-2516

Quince, T. A., Wood, D. F., Parker, R. A., & Benson, J. (2012). Prevalence and persistence of depression among undergraduate medical students: A longitudinal study at one UK medical school. BMJ Open, 2(4), e001519. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001519

Said, A. R., & Mettwaly, M. G. (2017). Improving life style among nursing students regarding menstrual disorders through an educational training program. International Journal of Nursing Science, 7(2), 35–43.

Saini, N., Agrawal, S., Bhasin, S., Bhatia, M., & Sharma, A. (2010). Prevalence of stress among resident doctors working in Medical Colleges of Delhi. Indian Journal of Public Health, 54(4), 219. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-557X.77266

Savelyeva, G. M., Sukhikh, G. T., Serov, V. N., Radzinsky, V. E., & Manukhin, I. B. (2017). Gynecology: National leadership (2nd ed. rev. and add.). Retrieved from https://www.books.ru/books/akusherstvo--natsionalnoe-rukovodstvo-4270549/ (in Russian)

Singh, R., Sharma, R., & Rajani, H. (2015). Impact of stress on menstrual cycle: A comparison between medical and non medical students. Saudi Journal for Health Sciences, 4(2), 115. https://doi.org/10.4103/2278-0521.157886

Sorrenti, L., Spadaro, L., Mafodda, A. V., Scopelliti, G., Orecchio, S., & Filippello, P. (2019). The predicting role of school Learned helplessness in internalizing and externalizing problems. An exploratory study in students with Specific Learning Disorder. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/2019.7.2035

Unanyan, A. L., Sidorova, I. S., Kuzenkova, N. N., Nikonets, A. D., Elisavetskaya, A. M., Nikitina, N. A., … Baburin, D. V. (2018). Predmenstrual’nyy sindrom: Etiopatogenez, klassifikatsiya, klinika, diagnostika i lecheniye [Premenstrual syndrome: Etiopathogenesis, classification, clinic, diagnosis and treatment]. Breast Cancer. Mother and Child, 2(1), 34–38. (in Russian)

Vodopyanova, N. E., & Starchenkova, E. S. (2005). Sindrom vygoraniya: Diagnostika i profilaktika [Burnout syndrome: Diagnosis and prevention]. St. Petersburg: Piter. (in Russian)

Volel, B. A., Ragimova, A. A., Burchakov, D. I., Burchakova, M. N., & Kuznetsova, I. V. (2016). Stress-related menstrual disorders. Consilium Medicum, 18(6), 8–13. https://doi.org/10.26442/2075-1753_2016.6.8-13

Yadav, B., & Taneja, P. (2019). Questionnaire based study on menstrual patterns among female medical university students of rural north india. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8(15), 1232–1236. https://doi.org/10.14260/jemds/2019/273

Yusoff, M. S. B., Abdul Rahim, A. F., & Yaacob, M. J. (2010). Prevalence and Sources of Stress among Universiti Sains Malaysia Medical Students. The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences : MJMS, 17(1), 30–37.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/mjcp-2548

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.