Abstract
Background: Dysmenorrhea is a prevalent issue that affects a significant portion of teenagers, it impacts their academic achievement and it's the main cause of school absenteeism. Aim: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its effect on academic achievement among teenagers. Study design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Setting: The study was carried out at Technical Institute of Nursing-Mansoura University Egypt. Study subjects: A purposive sample of 309 teenage girls were utilized. Tools: Three tools were used; A structured interview questionnaire, simple descriptive pain intensity scale and dysmenorrhea effects on academic achievement questionnaire. Results: Most of the studied girls had dysmenorrhea, more than half of them didn't go to institute during menstrual days, nearly three quarters of them couldn't concentrate and understand during lectures. In addition, less than two third of them of the studied girls reported inability to participate effectively in classroom activities., more than two third of them reported that dysmenorrhea affected their participation in institute activities and more than half of them reported that menstruation effected their result of exam. Conclusion: Dysmenorrhea was prevalence among the studied girls which most of them had dysmenorrhea and more than one third of them had bad academic achievement. Recommendations: Developing student support systems to provide academic support for teenagers facing difficulties due to dysmenorrhea, further research should focus on the adaptive techniques used by the students to mitigate the negative impacts of dysmenorrhea on academic achievement.