Assessment of Primary Dysmenorrhea and Its Effect on the Quality of Life among Female Students at University of Babylon

Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is a painful menstrual flow in the absence of any pelvic pathology where pain is spasmodic in character and felt mostly in the lower abdominal area. PD considered as common problem in females at reproductive age, it’s directly affects the quality of life (QoL). The main objective of this study is to find out the relationship between PD and QoL of among female students. Descriptive correlational study design carried out on (145) female students, purposive sampling, and their ages between (18–25) years, participants were selected from four faculties at the University of Babylon. Numeric rating pain scale (11-point scale) was used for assessing pain intensity, QoL has been assessed by the SF-36 health survey (SF-36). Data have been collected by using a structured interview as method of data collection and using questionnaire as study tool. Data were processed and analyzed by using SPSS version (25). The findings of the present study revealed that (62.1%) of respondents reported as severe primary dysmenorrhea. The greatest proportion of female students with fair QoL and (17.9%) with poor QoL. The study’s finding finds out a negative significant correlation between PD intensity and overall QoL scale at P ≤ 0.05 (r = − 0.642, P = 0.000)