Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29334974›Full record

ArticleBMC women's health2018

Prevalence of dysmenorrhea and predictors of its pain intensity among Palestinian female university students.

Heba A Abu Helwa, Areen A Mitaeb, Suha Al-Hamshri, Waleed M Sweileh

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC women's health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
71citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
15.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

71 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 173 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Physical agents' level in women with primary dysmenorrhea: A cross-sectional observational study.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026
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11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Heba A Abu HelwaCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, 44839, Palestine.
Areen A MitaebCollege of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, 44839, Palestine.
Suha Al-HamshriDepartment of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, 44839, Palestine.
Waleed M SweilehDepartment of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Toxicology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, 44839, Palestine. waleedsweileh@yahoo.com.ORCID 0000-0002-9460-5144
An-Najah National University · PS

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFew studies on gynaecological problems of young females in Arab countries were published. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and predictors of its pain among university students in Palestine.

methodsA cross - sectional study was carried out on a randomly selected sample of An-Najah National University female students. A pre-designed questionnaire, which included questions regarding menstrual cycle, pain during menstruation, life style, nutritional habits, and symptoms associated with menstrual pain, was used. Pain intensity was measured using visual analogue scale.

resultsA total of 956 female students were involved in the study. Of the total study sample, 846 (85.1%) reported having pain during menstruation; i.e. dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhea was significantly [(p = 0.027); OR = 1.5, 95% CI (1.05-2.19)] associated with age at menarche. The mean score of pain among dysmenorrhic females was 6.79 ± 2.64. The majority (654; 80.34%) of dysmenorrhic females reported having moderate/ severe pain. Univariate analysis using Chi-square test for factors associated with moderate/severe pain among dysmenorrhic females were irregular cycle [(p = 0.015); OR = 1.57, 95% CI = (1.09-2.30)], skipping breakfast [(p < 0.001); OR = 1.93, 95% CI = (1.33-2.79)], academic specialization [(p = 0.03; OR = 2.2, 95% CI = (1.21-3.98)] for medical specialization with reference to students in humanities), high stress level [(p = 0.036; OR = 1.53, 95% CI = (1.03-2.28)], and living in dormitories [(p = 0.034); OR = 1.72, 95% CI = (1.04-2.86)]. Multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression enter method showed that medical specialization [(p = 0.045); OR = 1.92, 95% CI = (1.02-3.64)] for medical students with reference to students in humanities), skipping breakfast [(p = 0.001); OR = 1.96, 95% CI = (1.35-2.86)], and irregular cycle [(p = 0.022); OR = 1.56, 95% CI = (1.07-2.29)] were the only significant predictors of moderate/severe dysmenorrhic pain.

conclusionThere is a high proportion of dysmenorrhea among Palestinian female university students. Skipping breakfast was the strongest predictor for moderate/severe dysmenorrhea. Increased awareness regarding factors that might influence the intensity of dysmenorrhic pain is needed.

Indexed as

AdultArabsDysmenorrheaFemaleHumansMenorrhagiaPrevalenceQuality of LifeResearch DesignStudentsSurveys and QuestionnairesUniversitiesYoung AdultDysmenorrheaPalestineUniversity students

Identifiers

PMID29334974
PMCPMC5769430
OpenAlexW2783341791

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.