Decreased Social Functioning and Increased Perception of Stress in Adolescents with Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

Objective: There is a relative lack of research on the association of mental health problems and menstrual-related concerns in adolescents. The objective of the current study was to compare anxiety, depression, quality of life, and perceived stress between adolescents with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) and control patients.

Study design: We performed a cross-sectional study in which participants were recruited from a tertiary training and research hospital. Adolescents aged 12-18 years with a first diagnosis of abnormal uterine bleeding and healthy controls evaluated in adolescent, pediatric endocrinology and general pediatrics departments were included in the study. The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were used to assess mood, quality of life and perceived stress.

Results: Fifty-six participants from the AUB group and fifty participants from the control group were included in the study. Except for social functioning scores which were lower in the AUB group versus controls (86.42∓14.03 vs. 92.4∓10.41, p<0.05), there was no significant differences in PedsQL scores between groups. There was a significant difference between the Perceived Stress Scale total scores of the AUB and control groups (32.07 ∓ 6.49; 28.98 ∓ 5.55, p<0.05), but no difference between the RCADS scores.

Conclusion: In our study, we found that abnormal uterine bleeding in adolescents was associated with reduced social functioning and increased perceived stress. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings.