Menstrual Characteristics of Sickle Cell Anaemia Patients of Reproductive Age in North West of Nigeria
Keywords:
Delayed Menarche, Northwest Nigeria, Sickle Cell AnaemiaAbstract
Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is an inherited autosomal recessive haemolytic anaemia with clinical manifestations of chronic anaemia, haemolysis and vasculopathy. Nigeria is believed to be the most sickle cell anaemia endemic country in sub-Saharan Africa with 2% - 3% of the total population affected. Adolescent girls living with sickle cell anaemia face unique gynecological challenges including delayed puberty marked by a later onset in menarche when compared to adolescent girls without sickle cell anaemia. Vaso-occlusive pain associated with menstrual cycle and abnormal uterine bleeding. This was a cross-sectional comparative study involving SCA and normal women of child bearing age. Following the acquisition of Institutional ethical clearance, a total of 90 respondents (60 HbSS, 30 Hb AA) who were within the reproductive age group were enrolled for this study. Participants were enrolled from the Sickle Cell Clinic and Antenatal Clinic of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria. Data on socio-demographics, age at menarche, menstrual cycle (regular vs irregular) and menstrual flow (normal, light and heavy) were collated. The mean±SD ages of the HbSS and HbAA respondents were 26.4±7.5 and 25.6±5.5 years respectively. The HbSS participants had statistically significantly higher ages at menarche compared to the HbAA respondents: (15.6±1.3years versus 14.7±1.6years). The relationship between study group (HbSS vs HbAA) and menstrual cycle (regular vs irregular) was not statistically significant. There was a statistically significant relationship between study group (HbSS vs HbAA) and menstrual flow (normal, light, and heavy): (X2=17.980, df=2, p=0.0001).
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