Impact of Primary Dysmenorrhea on Academic Performance and Quality of Life Among Medical Students at Sohag University

Pain is an unpleasant sensation that negatively affects individual experiencing it, depending on its quality, intensity, location, and duration. One of the causes of pain among females is dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea is defined as pain during menstruation. A significant population of females experience mild, moderate or severe pain during menstruation. Primary dysmenorrhea is defined as dysmenorrhea with the absence of any organic pathology starting 6-12 months after the menarche and frequently continuing till menopause, while secondary dysmenorrhea results from gynecologic problems such as adenomyosis, endometriosis, uterine fibroid and others.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Primary Dysmenorrhea
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: self administered questionnaire

Detailed Description

In the world, the estimated prevalence of dysmenorrhea ranges from 45% to 93% of women of reproductive age, with adolescents having the highest rates of dysmenorrhea.

Studies suggest that approximately 140 million hours are lost annually from school or work owing to dysmenorrhea. It is a leading cause of recurrent short-term school absenteeism, lack of concentration, no active participation, inability to do homework, failure in an exam, and limitation of activity.

An estimated 15% of adolescent females describe their pain as severe, impacting their quality of life. These adolescents can miss 1 to 3 days of school per menstrual cycle.

Studies have noted that dysmenorrhea can lead to lower academic performance (AP) and poor quality of sleep, resulting in mood changes, such as anxiety and depression

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 402

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Amira Fayez, Ass.lecturer; Phone Number: 01279954256; Email: amerahfayez@med.sohag.edu.eg
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Shimaa Harris, lecturer; Phone Number: 01098626250; Email: shimaa.hares@med.sohag.edu.eg

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Sohag, Egypt
    • Sohag University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

A cross-sectional survey will be conducted in three randomly chosen faculties' in Sohag University,

The sample will be selected as follow:

• 3 medical faculties were selected randomly. [Faculty of Medicine, and faculty of Nursing] medical female students are the study population
• Students will be selected by stratified random sampling technique.
• Students from each grade except the first grade will be selected by using random sampling technique after fulfilling the eligibility criteria.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• • Undergraduate females from the 3 selected faculties in Sohag University

Exclusion Criteria:

• • Students who will refuse to participate in this study.

  • Pregnant females \ females with amenorrhea.
  • Females with gynecological problems as adenomyosis, uterine fibroids and others to exclude secondary dysmenorrhea

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The WaLIDD questionnaire	The WaLIDD questionnaire contains 4 questions : Working ability = 0: never, 1: sometimes, 2: regularly, 3: always; Location = 0: none, 1: 1 location. 2: 2-3 locations, 3: 4 locations; Intensity = 0: never, 1: sometimes, 2: regularly, 3: always; Day of Pain = 0: none, 1: 1-2 days, 2: 3-4 days, 3: more than 5 days So, Each of the four questions is scored from 0 to 3 Total score: The total score ranges from 0 to 12 The interpretation of the WaLIDD questionnaire is as follows: 0 = No Dysmenorrhea 1-4 = Mild Dysmenorrhea 5-7 = Moderate Dysmenorrhea 8-12 = Severe Dysmenorrhea	December 2027
"DysmenQoL questionnaire" (dysmenorrhea and quality of life)	it is represented by 20 statements about the negative effects of dysmenorrhea on quality of life (effects on health and feelings, relationships with family members or friends, couple relationships and professional activity). It consists of twenty statements ,the participants give a score from 1 to 5 for each statement: 1-"Never"; 2-"Few cases"; 3-"Sometimes"; 4-"Most of the time" ; 5-"Every time". We calculate the sum of the scores for each statement and we call it "DysmenQoL score" whose value could vary between 20 and 100. So, high scores indicate low quality of life. The DysmenQoL questionnaire proved to be a reliable and valid method for evaluating the impact of dysmenorrhea on the quality of life.	December 2027

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sohag University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Amira Fayez Shenouda, Ass lecturer, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): January 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 21, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 9, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 20, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 9, 2026
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Dysmenorrhea; Academic performance
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Pathologic Processes; Pelvic Pain; Menstruation Disturbances; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Dysmenorrhea
• Other Study ID Numbers: Soh-Med--25-12-1MD

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No