Prevalence and Risk Factors of Menstrual Disorders in Korean Women

Some women experience menstrual disorders such as polymenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, and menorrhagia, which are not only influenced by biological factors but also by lifestyle and psychosocial factors. Understanding menstrual disorders is essential for women's health and quality of life.

To identify policies that are needed to prevent menstrual disorders, we investigated the prevalence and risk factors of menstrual disorders in this study.

A web-based questionnaire survey evaluated menstrual characteristics and biological, lifestyle, and psychosocial risk factors in 13,943 South Korean females aged 15-45 years. A Chi-square test was used to compare the prevalence of menstrual disorders by general and psychosocial characteristics. A logistic regression analysis was utilized to determine odds ratios (ORs) of risk factors for menstrual disorders. Adjusted ORs of the risk factors for menstrual disorders, after adjusting for other risk factors, were calculated.

The prevalence of polymenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, and menorrhagia was 3.1%, 9.0%, and 5.4%, respectively. A significantly high prevalence of menstrual disorders was associated with the following risk factors: underweight (OR: 1.291) and current smoking (OR: 1.516) for polymenorrhea; overweight (OR: 1.354), obesity (OR: 2.164), current drinking (OR: 1.170), depression (OR: 1.416), and perceived stress (OR: 1.248) for oligomenorrhea; and depression (OR: 1.521) for menorrhagia.

This cross-sectional study highlighted that menstrual disorders are significantly associated with lifestyle habits and psychosocial factors in South Korean women. These findings can serve as scientific evidence to support public health initiatives aimed at enhancing awareness and menstrual health management among women.