Relationship between age, menstrual cycle, and length of menstruation with anemia in adolescent girls in the Gresik district

Abstract

Anemia in adolescents is defined as a low hemoglobin level (less than 12g/dl) in adolescent blood. The incidence of anemia in Indonesia is still quite high. In adolescents, anemia is more prevalent due to growth spurt, onset of menarche, poor nutrition, and poverty. Age has a significant relationship with the incidence of anemia in adolescents, especially in older girls. The menstrual cycle and length of menstruation play an important role in the amount of blood that flows out. This study aims to analyze the relationship between age, menstrual cycle, and length of menstruation with anemia in adolescent girls in the Gresik District. The type of research was quantitative analytic observational cross-sectional design. Respondents consisted of 661 adolescent girls aged 10-19 years old in elementary, junior high, and senior high school held UKS program in Gresik District. Hb data was obtained by POCT (Point of Care Test) and other data was obtained by questionnaires via google form. The result showed that 29% were diagnosed with anemia, and 71% were not. The category of adolescents was found 8.3% in early, 59.8% in middle, and 31.9% in late adolescents. Menstrual cycle was found 54.6% in the short cycle, 40.7% normal cycle, and 4.7% long cycle category. The length of menstruation was 1.1% in short category, 74.1% normal category, and 24.8% long category. The results of statistical using the chi-square test in analyzing the relationship between age with anemia obtained pvalue=0,065, menstrual cycle with anemia obtained pvalue=0,128, and length of menstruation with anemia obtained pvalue=0,330. There is no correlation between age, menstrual cycle, and length of menstruation with anemia in adolescent girls in Gresik District.