---
title: How common are menstrual problems in teenage girls? | Niyora
description: Among 285 teenage girls in Egypt, about 66% had period pain, 56% had PMS, and various cycle disorders affected about 8 to 9 percent of girls.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/nature-and-prevalence-of-menstrual-disorders-among-teenage-female-students-at-2016/
---

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- How common are menstrual problems in teenage girls?

Survey study, 2016

# How common are menstrual problems in teenage girls?

Among 285 teenage girls in Egypt, about 66% had period pain, 56% had PMS, and various cycle disorders affected about 8 to 9 percent of girls.

 Moderate study design

285 female university students in Egypt, first period at age 12.3 ± 1.5 years

## What they did

Researchers surveyed 285 female students at a university hospital in Egypt using a questionnaire. They asked about age at first period, cycle length and regularity, period duration and amount of flow, and PMS symptoms.

## What they found

Mean age at first period was 12.3 ± 1.5 years. 66% reported period pain, with 28.4% describing it as mild, 24.2% as moderate, and 13.3% as severe. 56.1% reported PMS. Other disorders included irregular periods (8.4%), too-infrequent periods (6.3%), too-frequent periods (1.8%), light periods (8.8%), and heavy periods (4.2%). Only 12.6% consulted someone about their menstrual problems.

## What it means for you

Menstrual problems are very common in teenage girls and may affect their quality of life and school attendance, but most girls don't seek help. Findings are similar to other countries studied.

66%

had period pain

56.1%

had PMS

12.6%

consulted someone about problems

## About the study

Original title Nature and Prevalence of Menstrual Disorders among Teenage Female Students at Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt Authors Nooh AM, Abdul-Hady A, El-Attar N Journal Journal of pediatric and adolescent gynecology Year 2016 Study design Survey study Participants 188 Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2015.08.008](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2015.08.008)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Exercise and yoga](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-exercise/)[Quality of life and daily functioning](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-quality-of-life/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits.

Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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