Características clínicas de la menstruación y preferencia de uso de productos de higiene menstrual en estudiantes de séptimo a décimo ciclo de la carrera de Medicina de la Universidad de Cuenca, 2021

Abstract

Background: Menstruation is defined as shedding of the functional layer of the endometrium in a cyclical manner. In Ecuador there is no an updated study about the characterization of the menstrual cycle in the population. Objective: To determine the clinical characteristics of menstruation and preference for the use of menstrual hygiene products in students of the seventh to tenth academic cycles of the Medical School of the University of Cuenca, 2021. Methodology: It is a cross-sectional, descriptive study applied to female students of Medicine, we included the universe of 138 female students from the seventh to the tenth academic cycle. An informed consent was elaborated explaining the main research objective and data collection was done through Google forms. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 22 and Excel programs. Results: The mean age at menarche was 12 years, the 90.4% reported having normal menstrual frequency, 64% had normal duration menstrual periods, 70.6% had regular menstrual cycles and 58.1% had dysmenorrhea. The 100% of respondents refer to use menstrual hygiene products, 84.5% use sanitary pads. Conclusions: The average age of the participants was 23 years, with menarche at 12 years of age. The majority had one menstrual period per month, with an average duration of 5 days, and more than half had dysmenorrhea. All the participants used menstrual hygiene products, with sanitary napkins being the most commonly used.