Rabia Hasan, Mehreen Adhi, Shaheen Shoaib, Shoaib Tauheed.
Menarcheal age – a tendency towards decline.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;17(10):642-3.

It was an observational cross-sectional study in which a total of 400 subjects were selected by stratified sampling and were provided with a structured questionnaire between February and November 2004. The questionnaire contained details about the subject`s present age, menarcheal age, regularity of periods, duration of menses and whether or not they experienced pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), and their socioeconomic background/nutritional status. With the data obtained, the mean age at menarche of the two age groups was calculated and a comparison was made between the menarcheal age of the younger and older age groups. The occurrence of PMS was also calculated and a comparison regarding the occurrence of PMS was made between the two age groups. The Chi-square test was used for significance testing and p-value less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Epi info version 3.3 was used for data analysis. Out of 400 subjects, the menarcheal age of the older age group (35-55 years; n=200) ranged from 12 years to 16 years and that of the younger age group (13-17 years; n=200) ranged from 10 years to 15 years. There was a significant difference in the mean menarcheal age in the older and the younger age groups (13.41 years vs. 12.56 years; p<0.0001). The overall occurrence of PMS was 62.5%, but there was a significant difference in the occurrence of PMS between the two age groups, with most of the subjects in the younger age group, while less than half of the subjects in the older age group having complains of physical and emotional symptoms related to the menstrual cycle (80% vs. 45%; p<0.0001).

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