Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use for Primary Dysmenorrhea among Senior High School Students in the Western Region of Ghana

Table 1

Characteristics of participants.

Characteristics		Urban		Rural
		Frequencies	(%)	Frequencies	(%)
Age(years)	≤15	9	3.6	3	1.3
	16	41	16.6	49	21.2
	17	159	64.4	69	29.9
	18	34	13.8	72	31.2
	19	2	0.8	18	7.8
	≥20	2	0.8	8	3.5
	Mean (17 ± 0.049)
Onset of menstruation (years)	<10	5	2.0	7	3.0
	10–17	242	98	224	97
	Mean (12 ± 0.069)
Length of cycle (days)	≤28	50	20.2	36	15.6
	28	132	53.4	131	56.7
	30	65	26.4	64	27.7
Duration of menstruation (days)	≥5	169	68.4	161	69.7
	6–10	78	31.6	70	30.3
Rate of cycle	Very regular	120	48.6	100	43.3
	Somewhat regular	96	38.9	99	42.9
	Irregular	31	12.6	63	27.3
First-time experience of dysmenorrhea	First day	112	45.3	115	49.8
	After 3 months	85	34.4	76	32.9
	More than a year	50	20.2	40	17.3
Signs and symptoms	Headache	119	48.2	92	39.8
	Vomiting	37	15.0	33	14.3
	Fever	29	11.7	27	11.7
	Nausea	53	21.5	46	19.9
	Restlessness	144	58.3	120	51.9
	Backache	45	18.2	15	6.5
	Malaise	14	5.7	17	7.4
	Diarrhoea	85	34.4	45	19.5
Site of pain	Lower back	26	10.5	34	14.7
	Lower abdomen	233	94.3	193	83.5
	Hip	13	5.3	22	9.5
	Thigh	18	7.3	19	8.2