The relationship between body mass index and menstrual cycle disorder

Objective: The research aims to study the prevalence of menstrual disorders and their relationship with body mass index Methods and materials: A cross-sectional descriptive study that included 392 female patients from the outpatient clinic at Al-Zahrawi Hospital. They met the inclusion criteria and included women aged (20) - (40) years who had no known causes for menstrual irregularity, a detailed clinical history was taken, and a clinical examination was performed that included measuring weight and height. To determine the body mass index using a tape measure and an electronic weight scale and dividing according to the values ​​into four groups, a menstrual history was taken (puberty, date of last menstrual period, regularity of the menstrual cycle). The patients were then divided according to possible patterns of menstrual disorders. An echographic evaluation of the reproductive system was conducted for a period of 3 months, from April 2024 to May 2024. Results: The current study showed that 6.9% of the sample were underweight, 39.3% were normal weight, 32.9% were overweight, 20.9% were obese, 21.2% had normal menstruation, and 78.8% had a menstrual irregularity. We found that there is a statistically significant relationship (P=0.005) between the high incidence of menstrual irregularity with abnormal BMI values, and the percentage of amenorrhea and polymenorrhea was highest among obese women, followed by underweight women. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (P=0.04), (P=0.02), Oligomenorrhea was seen and was higher among overweight women, followed by obese women, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P=0.001). The percentage of menorrhagia was higher among obese women, followed by overweight women, then underweight women, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (P=0.04). Dysmenorrhea was higher among underweight women. Weight, followed by obese, in equal proportion among overweight and normal weight women, with a statistically significant difference (P=0.003). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups for Hypomenorrhea (P=0.5), intermenstrual bleeding (P=0.1), and menorrhagia (P=0.09). Conclusion: Menstrual disorders are common in women of reproductive age. Body mass index plays a very important vital role in the regularity of the menstrual cycle, and weight control is important to improve a woman's quality of life during her reproductive years.