A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Acupressure in Reducing Dysmenorrhea among College Girls in Selected Colleges at Kanyakumari District

Abstract

Menstrual cramps are a common problem for adolescent girls and women. Most common cause of days missed from school and work is to solve this problem. A quasi-experimental study was done to assess the effectiveness of acupressure in reducing dysmenorrhea among college girls in selected colleges at Kanyakumari District. 15 girls from Women's Christian college were selected for experimental group and 15 girls from Muslim Arts and Science College were selected for control group. Their dysmenorrhea level was assessed by numeric pain intensity scale. Moderate to severe dysmenorrhea girls were selected for the study. 63.33% girls had moderate dysmenorrhea and 36.66% had severe dysmenorrhea in pre-test. After introduction of acupressure, to the experimental group, their level of dysmenorrhea was reduced, 66.7% experienced mild dysmenorrhea immediately after acupressure and 100% experienced mild dysmenorrhea ½ an hour after acupressure and 66.7% experienced mild dysmenorrhea even 2 h after acupressure, where as only 6.7% experienced mild dysmenorrhea 2 h after rest in the control group. There was no significant relationship between dysmenorrhea and selected demographic variables.