All issues > Volume 45(1); 2002

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 2002;45(1):16-23. Published online January 15, 2002.

A Study of Menarche and Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding in Adolescent School Girls in Ansan City

Yeon Kyeong YK Jung¹, Jae Hee JH Soh¹, Dae Hun DH Pee¹, Young Kyoo YK Shin¹, Kee Hyoung KH Lee¹, Baik Lin BL Eun¹, Sang Hee SH Park¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of M edicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
¹Department of Pediatrics, College of M edicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Sang Hee SH Park ,Email: ykj0802@yahoo.co.kr

Abstract

Purpose
: We investigated the menstrual features of adolescent school girls to know the characteristics of menarche and dysfunctional uterine bleeding in adolescents.
Methods
: In March, 2001, 1,434 primary and middle school girls(10-15 years of age) in Ansan City were investigated for the menacheal age and several aspects of menstruation through questionnaire. Results : Mean age of the total subjects were 13.0¡¾1.2 years of age, and 68.4% of them experienced menarche. 32.2% experienced menarche after age 12, but 82.9% experienced it after age 13. Mixed type(regular and irregular) menstrual cycle was the most common(35.3%), and changing type(irregular to regular) was 27.6%. In changing type, the mean duration of cycle stabilization was 6.6¡¾4.9 months. The most common menstrual cycle was `within 26-30 days`(31.4%). Abnormal cycles such as `equal or less than 20 days` and `equal or more than 41 days` were 17.2% and 2.0%, respectively. The most common menstrual duration was `5-6 days`(44.7%). 7.6% of the subjects experienced short or long menstrual duration. Among the subjects, only 4.0% visited the hospital with menstrual problems. The visiting reasons were `irregular menstrual cycles`(38.5%), `dysmenorrhea`(28.2%), `menorrhagia`(12.8%), and `hypermenorrhea`(28.2%). Conclusion : Most adolescent girls in our study experienced menarche until 13 years of age and some of them got early menarche at the age of 9. Many of them had irregular or unstable menstrual cycles after menarche at any age, but only few of them visited a health care provider. We suggest the careful attention of pediatricians, parents and teachers to the early detection and proper treatment of menstrual problems in adolescent girls.

Keywords :Dysfunctional uterine bleeding, Menarche, Adolescent school girl