Abstract

Background: Dysmenorrhea or painful menstruation is the most common periodic pain in women, which includes primary and secondary types. One of the possible factors affecting the severity of dysmenorrhea is the presence or absence of social support. Objectives: Due to the high prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its undesirable consequences on the quality of personal, social, and academic life of students, this study aimed to evaluate the association between severity of dysmenorrhea and social support among female students of Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Methods: Using purposeful sampling method, this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 286 female students of Ilam University of Medical Sciences (age range: 18-28 years) in 2018. Data collection tools included demographic infor-mation form, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to determine pain severity, and standardized Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ) to assess social support. Descriptive statistics (frequency and mean) and analytical statistics (Pearson’s correlation coefficient) were used for data analysis in SPSS software version 16. Results: The mean age of the samples was 21.62 ± 2.10 years, and the mean age of menarche was 13.57 ±1.33 years. The prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea was 86 among the samples, with 8 of them having low social support, 39.2 moderate social support, and 52.8 high social support. There was a significant association between social support and severity of dysmenorrhea so that Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed an inverse association between the two variables (r =-0.187, P = 0.002). Conclusions: The inverse association between the severity of dysmenorrhea and the level of social support highlighted the need for planning to create and enhance social support by family and community and reduce the effects that dysmenorrhea can have on physical, mental, and social health of individuals. © 2021, Author(s).