A Comparative Analysis of Physical and Psychological Distress Associated with Dysmenorrhea in Female College Students: A Cross-sectional Observational Study

Context: Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) presents with a range of physical and psychological symptoms. Dysmenorrhea, a prevalent issue among women, manifests as recurrent abdominal pain and cramping during menstruation, often underestimated despite its substantial impact on physical and mental well-being. Aim: This study aims to categorize dysmenorrhea symptoms into physical and psychological clusters and compare the severity scores between the two clusters among female college students. Settings and Study Design: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among female students from various health sciences colleges in Belagavi city over a period of 6 months, using cluster sampling as the sampling design and convenience sampling as the sampling technique. Subjects and Methods: Female college students aged between 20 and 30 years suffering from PD ( n = 244) were included in the study. Informed consent form with signatures and data collection form were obtained from each participant. Each participant filled out the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 29 and Microsoft Excel 2019. Cluster analysis and comparative scoring were used to analyze severity patterns. Results: The results demonstrate that psychological symptoms (mean = 49.18) during menstruation were significantly more severe than physical symptoms (mean = 22.85) in this sample. The relationship between physical and psychological symptoms was moderately positive ( r = 0.488), and correlation was statistically significant ( P <.001), indicating that higher levels of one type of symptom are associated with higher levels of the other. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight that physical and psychological symptoms co-exist in PD, with psychological symptoms being significantly more severe than physical symptoms among female college students during menstruation.