Does Lifestyle Affect Dysmenorrhea Intensity? A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether or not there is a relationship between lifestyle and dysmenorrhea intensity in FKIK Atma Jaya students. Methods: This research is a cross sectional analytic descriptive study with a minimum sample size of 196 students of the FKIK Atma Jaya class 2017-2019. The degree of pain was assessed using the Verbal Multidimensional Scoring System pain scale. Frequency of fast food consumption were assessed with Food Frequency Questionnaire. Frequency of physical activity were assessed with International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The datas were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Result: The highest percentage of menstrual pain was at grade 1 (painful menstruation; rarely disturbed activity; no systemic symptoms; rarely required analgesics) for the VMSS scale (46.3%). The percentage of fast food consumption in this study was 86.1%. The highest percentage of physical activity in the category of moderate physical activity was 56.2%. The results of this study indicates a significant relationship between consumption of fast food and the intensity of dysmenorrhea with p = 0.017. There were no significant relationship between physical activity and the intensity of dysmenorrhea with p = 0.225. Conclusion: Consumption of fast food were related to the intensity of dysmenorrhea, whereas physical activity was not related with the intensity of dysmenorrhea.