ABSTRACT

Recently educational stress became a problematic issue for college students due to increasing deadlines and competition between students. This stress has an impact on the physical and mental health of the students, as high levels of stress affect the neuroendocrine axis which may lead to changes in the menstrual cycle. The study aimed to assess the association of educational stress levels with the incidence of menstrual cycle changes among medical students compared to non-medical students. The study, which was conducted at the University of Diyala, Iraq, included 600 participants, 400 medical students, and 200 non-medical students. The researchers collected data on length, flow, pattern, and stress-related dysmenorrhea through a questionnaire and analyzed it using statistical analysis. The results showed that there is a significant association between stress and dysmenorrhea. Other less prevalent associations were heavy menstrual bleeding. Most of these changes occurred in clinical years of academic study. It was concluded that menstrual cycle changes are more frequent among medical students due to the high levels of stress.