Influence of Sports Participation on Dysmenorrhea and Menorrhagia among University Female Students in Osun State Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the influence of sports participation on dymenorrhoea and menorrhgia among university female students in Obafemi Awolowo University Osun State, Nigeria. Thirty physical and health educators and 70 non-physical and health educators were selected for the study making a total of 100 female respondents. A validated self-structured questionnaire with agreed and disagreed format was used to collect the data. The data collected were subjected to statistical computation using simple percentages, t-test, and chi-square analyses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the respondents agreed that they usually experienced dysmenorrhea (severe pain) and menorrhagia (heavy bleeding) during menstruation. There was a significant difference between physical education female students and non-physical education female students in the incidence of dysmenorrheal and menorrhagia. Sports participation had significant influence on dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia among the female students. Verbal interview with some female students revealed that engaging in sports frequently can help get rid of dysmenorrheal and menorrhagia. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the sports participation should be encouraged among reproductive age of female students by the University authority.