女大學生月經經驗及其學校生活影響研究

Abstract

目的: 月經是一個重要的女性健康議題，但在台灣對大學生經期健康與生活適應的研究甚少。本研究旨在探討大學女學生的月經態度與自我照顧行為，及對其學校生活的影響。 方法: 本研究採立意取樣，選取台北市某一國立大學的大學及碩士女學生為研究樣本。回收之有效問卷共390分，回收率為72%。研究問卷包括「月經態度量表」、「自我照顧行為量表」、「生活影響量表」、「人口學變項問卷」、「月經歷史問卷」。統計工具為SPSS for Windows 15.0。 結果: 研究樣本月經疼痛級數的分布為:31.9%是第0級、27.5%是第一級、26.4%是第二級、14.2%是第三級。疼痛級數越高的研究樣本越容易覺得月經是件令人沮喪的事、麻煩的事、可預測的事、和會造成影響的事。大部份研究樣本認為月經是件自然的事。疼痛級數較高的研究樣本有較多的自我照顧行為，也認為他們的學校生活受到月經較大的影響。每次月經來時疼痛的天數與學校生活影響有顯著相關。本研究發現許多女大學生會在經痛或不適時積極自我照顧，也會在必要時主動尋求他人協助。研究也發現月經不只帶來負面的反應，有些女學生表示月經來時會有興奮感、愉悅感等。 結論: 本研究發現，大多數研究樣本對於月經持有較負面的態度，但也同意月經是必要且自然的。許多研究樣本表示希望有更多關於經痛處理方式及衛生棉條使用的健康教育資訊。本研究建議更完善及正向的經期健康教育。學校裡應加強女學生對自我照顧、健康提昇，以及中醫和西醫月經處理方式的了解，也應有更多措施來確保友善的月經環境。

Introduction: Menstruation is an important part of women’s health, but there are still many unexplored aspects other than the more known physiological and treatment effects of it. Although many countries have started to realize the significance of menstruation, menstrual health is still undermined in policy making and public awareness. This study aims to examine the impact of menstrual attitude and self-care behaviours on activity involvement of university students, as well investigate the social implications of observed menstrual attitudes and patterns of self-care behaviours among female university students. Some stereotypes about menstruation are also addressed. Methods and Materials: The research used convenience sampling to obtain sample population, which included female undergraduate and master students in one public university in Taipei, Taiwan. 390 valid questionnaires were collected, and the response rate was 72%. The questionnaires were collected on an anonymous and voluntary basis, which included: 1) Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire; 2) Self-care behaviour questionnaire; 3) Activity involvement questionnaire; 4) demographic information questionnaire; and 5) Menstrual history questionnaire. A pilot survey was performed before the formal survey. SPSS for Windows 15.0 was used to perform t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation and linear regression.

Results: 31.9% of the participants were in pain level 0 (no pain), 27.5% were in pain level 1, 26.4% were in pain level 2, and 14.2% were in pain level 3. Participants in more severe pain levels believed more strongly that menstruation is a debilitating event, a bothersome event, an event that can be anticipated and predicted, and of which the effects could not be denied. All participants perceived menstruation as a natural event. Participants who rated themselves higher on the menstrual pain severity scale performed more frequent self-care behaviours, and perceived more severe impact of menstruation on activity involvement than participants in less severe pain levels. When regression was performed for all participants, “menstruation as a debilitating event”, frequency of self-care behaviours, and days of menstrual discomfort during each menstrual period were found to be significantly related to the influence on activity involvement after controlling for all related variables (p<.001, p<.01 and p<.05, respectively). Conclusion: Generally, participants found menstruation to be debilitating and had more negative attitude toward it, but most agreed that menstruation was necessary and natural. More menstrual discomfort/pain coping methods are wanted by participants who experienced menstrual discomfort/pain, as well as more information on tampons. It is suggested that more positive menstrual education is needed, and both western and Chinese medicine options should be taught to students.