Survey study, 1994
What symptoms do teenage girls experience, and do symptoms change during their menstrual cycle?
Yes. Girls reported physical and emotional symptoms that were more intense during their period. Girls from the larger city reported more intense symptoms overall than girls from the medium-sized city.
What they did
Researchers interviewed 447 teenage girls (146 from a medium-sized city, 301 from a large city in Mexico) about their physical and emotional symptoms across their menstrual cycle.
What they found
Most common symptoms across both cities were bloating, acne, increased appetite, low back pain, thirst, tiredness, wanting to stay home, wanting to be alone, and anxiety. Girls from the large city reported higher intensity of breast tenderness, thirst, and depression symptoms. During the menstrual phase, girls reported clearly more bloating, breast tenderness, constipation, itching, difficulty concentrating, lack of coordination, and depression symptoms than during other phases.
What it means for you
Teenage girls experience more physical and emotional symptoms during their period, and girls living in larger cities report more intense symptoms overall. The study included girls not seeking treatment, so these are common symptoms in the general teenage population.
447
girls interviewed
16.7
average age in years
301
from large city León
About the study
- Original title
- [Symptoms in adolescents in two Mexican cities and association with the menstrual cycle]
- Authors
- Huerta MR, Malacara JM, Rivera-Cisneros A et al.
- Journal
- Ginecologia y obstetricia de Mexico
- Year
- 1994
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 447
- Read the paper
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8005508/
Topics
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