Dysmenorrhoea and its impact on the quality of life and coping mechanism of University of Cape Coast female students

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate dysmenorrhoea and its impact on quality of life among UCC students. Survey was used for the study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse research questions and hypothesis. Three hundred and fifty two students were purposively and conveniently sampled for the study. Early age of menstruation (p<0.05) and waist pain (p<0.05) were the risk factors. Pain killer (M= 4.22, SD= 0.79) was the most utilized coping mechanism. The study revealed that quality of life of students was impacted negatively. There was a weak positive correlation between headache and painkiller use (r= 0.19, p< 0.01). There was a strong negative correlation between overall symptoms score and overall quality of life score (r= -0.53, p < 0.01). There was a weak negative correlation between dysmenorrhoea and quality of life (r= -0.12, p<0.05). There was a strong positive correlation between physical and psychological health of students with dysmenorrhoea (r = 0.63, p < 0.05). This finding suggests that health professionals in collaboration with school administrators should initiate health educational programmes to create awareness about dysmenorrhoea and teach students how to cope in order to enhance their quality of life. Medical doctors should be involved to educate students on the appropriate medicine for dysmenorrhoea. Clinical psychologist should be involved to teach about ways to deal with anxiety, depression, and anger associated with dysmenorrhoea. Additional findings, implications and further studies are discussed.