Prevalence of Menstrual Disorder in Women and Its Correlation to Body Mass Index and Physical Activity

Divya Dwivedi¹ · Neeti Singh¹ · Uma Gupta^1,2

Divya Dwivedi is an Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mayo Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India; Neeti Singh is an Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mayo Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India; Uma Gupta is an Ex Professor and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mayo Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India, Currently Professor at Era’s Lucknow Medical college and Hospital, Sarfarajganj, Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Divya Dwivedi dwivedi.divya115@gmail.com Neeti Singh drneetiagarwal@gmail.com Uma Gupta umankgupta@gmail.com 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mayo Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital, Uttar Pradesh, Sarfarajganj, Hardoi, India

Background Regular menstruation represents reproductive health and quality of life of women. However, many women suffer from menstrual disorders at some point in their life. The occurrence of such abnormalities is affected by two key factors: BMI and physical activity. This study aims to analyse the relationship of these two factors to menstrual disorders.

Materials and Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among 502 women in Uttar Pradesh, India, from July 2021 to January 2023. Samples were selected using purposive sampling technique. The data were analysed using Pearson’s Chisquare test on MS Excel 2013 and IBM SPSS 29.0.0.0 (240) software.

Results Mean age of the research subjects was 25.84 + 6.30 years, mean weight was 60.29 + 11.22 kg, mean height was 155.34 + 11.77 cm, and mean BMI was 25.36 + 6.06 kg. 68.92% subjects had regular age at menarche. Most common menstrual disorders were PMS (41.63%) and dysmenorrhea (28.29%). As per BMI categories, most disorders were found in obese (94.87%) and underweight (93.62%) subjects. As per physical activity categories, most disorders were found in low (76.55%) and high (76.40%) category subjects. A significant relationship was found between menstrual disorder and BMI (χ2 = 80.49, p < 0.001) and physical activity (χ2 = 70.09, p < 0.001).

Conclusion The menstrual disorders in women are significantly related to their BMI and physical activity. Women are advised to focus on having a balanced, nutritious diet and indulge in moderate physical activity to improve their reproductive health and quality of life.

Keywords : Menstrual disorder · BMI, Menstrual cycle · Physical activity · Menstruation · Premenstrual syndrome

Menstruation is a cyclical phenomenon where in monthly discharge of blood and mucosal tissue lining from the uterus through the vagina takes places in women with onset of puberty. The menstrual cycle is marked by the rise and fall of hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) and signifies that pregnancy has not occurred [1]. During a female’s reproductive time span, expulsion of ova from the ovary occurs cyclically, with the potential to become fertilized by sperms. This cyclical phenomenon is a part of normal menstrual cycle. Menstrual disorder is any abnormal condition with regard to a normal menstrual cycle. The different types of menstrual disorders include premenstrual syndrome (PMS), amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, polymenorrhea, abnormally heavy uterine bleeding, hypomenorrhea and dysmenorrhea [2].

Two most significant factors leading to menstrual disorders are body fat content and physical activity. There are other internal factors like uterine fibroids, hormonal imbalances, clotting disorders, cancer, sexually-transmitted infections, polycystic ovary syndrome and genetics [2] and external factors like stress and lifestyle factors, which includes weight changes, dieting, caffeine and alcohol consumption, smoking, occupation, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, travel, illness, and changes in exercise [1, 3].

The body fat content can be represented by using the body mass index (BMI) and has an influence in the production of androgens and oestrogens and the variation in their levels may cause menstrual disorders [4, 5]. Previous studies in Delhi and Guwahati (India) revealed that BMI had statistical association with the menstrual cycle disorders [6, 7]. The physical activity affects gonadotropins release and ovulation, which can subsequently influence fertility outcomes. Menstrual dysfunction and subfertility is prevalent among high-performance females [8, 9]. In other studies, in Garhwal [10] and Aligarh [11], north India, dysmenorrhea, PMS, and irregular cycle were observed as common problems among adolescent girls and were directly associated with dietary habits and physical activities. These studies suggest that moderate exercises may have a positive impact on menstrual disorder symptoms reduction. It is, however, observed that not many studies in India are devoted to mature females who are past adolescence or at an age approaching menopause. Therefore, the present study aims to assess the association of BMI and physical activity to menstrual disorders and create strategies to improve the lifestyle of women who have come out of age.

Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Committee Clearance and Informed Consent Institutional ethical committee clearance was obtained before conducting the study, and informed consent was taken from individual subjects for participation.

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