Menstrual cycle among Jordanian girls aged 15 to 24 years

الملخص EN

Between October 1999 and June 2000, more than 1800 questionnaires were randomly distributed to female students aged 15-24 years, in several secondary schools, colleges and universities in Zarka City, Central Jordan.

Out of these, 1325 questionnaires were completed and analyzed for the purpose of this study.

The questionnaires contained information about the menarcheal age, the length of menstrual cycle, and the length of menstrual blood flow.

The mean menarcheal age was 13.69 ± 1.21 years (Mean ± SD).

It was found that 4.08% of the girls in this sample reached menarche before the age of 12 years, and 5.58% attained menarcheal age after the age of 15 years.

The mean length of the menstrual cycle was 28.20 ± 4.26 days, with 94.64 % of the girls reporting normal cycle length (21-35 days), 1.43 % having a short cycle (shorter than 21 days), 1.36 % having long cycles (longer than 35 days), and 2.57 % of the girls describing variable menstrual cycles.

The mean length of the menstrual flow (bleeding) was 5.53 ± 1.56 days.

Approximately, 1 out of every 10 girls reported menstrual bleeding of 3 days or shorter, compared with 6.11 % reporting 8 days or longer.

Nearly, one-sixth of these (around 1% of the total sample) reported bloodflow of 10 days or longer.

These results would suggest that more nationwide studies are needed in order to determine menstrual-cycle patterns and the factors that affect these patterns among Jordanian girls.