Differentials of post-partum amenorrhea: a survival analysis

Post-partum amenorrhea is an important event for females' reproductive life and their health. It is the time period between the end of pregnancy and the resumption of menstruation after delivery, and it is considered to be the temporary infecundable period of women's reproductive life-span. The main aim of this article is to examine the differentials of post-partum amenorrhea by using current status reporting data according to the characteristics of the mother and her child. The data are utilized from a sample survey of Palpa and Rupandehi districts of western rural Nepal. A life-table based technique of survival analysis has been used. Important summary measures have been computed in order to see the differentials of duration of post-partum amenorrhea. The study revealed that parity of mothers, age of mothers, breast-feeding practices and survival status of the child were found to be the main differentials of the duration of post-partum amenorrhea. Amenorrhea period was found shorter for lower parity and younger mothers. Amenorrheic period was found to be increased with increased birth-interval and duration of breast-feeding practices. A strong positive association was found between the duration of post-partum amenorrhea and breast-feeding. The study also revealed that an inverse association was found between the duration of post-partum amenorrhea and socio-economic status of mothers. The survival status of the child showed a strong effect for the timing of amenorrhea. This study investigated the important differentials of amenorrhea by using current status reporting data according to the characteristics of mother and her child. The estimated values of mean, median and trimean duration of amenorrhea were compared. For instance, trimean of amenorrheic period was found to be 9.6 months while median was 8.4 months and mean was 10.4 months. This finding indicates that the trimean provided the most consistent and best estimates of the duration of amenorrhea than other averages. The trimean is the best measure if the data contain censored and open-ended class interval. Parity, age of mothers, survival status of child, breast-feeding practices and socio-economic status of mothers were found to be the main influencing factors for the timing of amenorrhea among rural Nepalese mothers. Although the coverage of the present study is limited to small areas as well as to a small sample size, it is expected that the findings may help in designing appropriate policies and programs for improving mothers' and children's health as well as for reducing the existing fertility level of a country.