DEMOGRAPHIC AND EPIDEMIOLOGIC FEATURES OF FEMALE ADOLESCENTS IN TURKEY

Objective: To determine the average menarcheal age and menstrual cycle pattern, prevalence of dysmenorrhea, frequency of smoking, alcohol an d drug use, sexual education level, and the gynecologic problems in fe male adolescents in Turkey. Methods: A questionnaire consisting of 43 questions were given to 13,665 high school girls between the ages 13-1 8 years. Results: The results showed that average menarcheal age was 1 3.28 +/- 1.09 years and 77.8% of the girls had menstrual cycles betwee n 20-35 days; 10,688 (78.1%) of the girls complained about pain during their menstruation and 25.6% frequently missed school for this reason . That notwithstanding, only 0.4% of the adolescents with dysmenorrhea had sought medical consultation. Out of 13,665 girls, 19.7% smoked ci garettes, 14.9% used alcohol, and 0.63% used other drugs. Although 50. 8% of the students believed that their knowledge about sexuality was a dequate, on evaluating the results, this was not confirmed. Girlfriend s were found to be the most important source of sexual knowledge. The study indicated that 88.8% of the girls wanted to have sexual educatio n at schools and 60.5% of those preferred to take such a lecture toget her with boys. The study also revealed that 10.5% of the girls previou sly consulted a gynecologist and menstrual disorders (26.1%) and dysme norrhea (23.4%) were the most common complaints. The results showed th at 68.7% of the girls preferred a woman gynecologist and 66.3% wanted to be alone with the doctor during examination. Conclusion: We provide d data about demographic and epidemiologic features of Turkish female adolescents.