Menarcheal age of youth from Marechal Cândido Rondon-PR

Abstract

The maturational period of youths is an important indicator of population development and health. Among girls, the main maturation indicator is the first menstrual flow or menarche. This study objective was to identify the age at menarche for girls from Marechal Candido Rondon town. It was observed the minimum and maximum ages at menarche giving the frequency of its occurrence for each age group. A group of 290 girls aged 9 to 14 years was studied. The methodology used was the “status-quo,” and for the girls that already had the menarche the instrument used for occurrence determination was a questionnaire. The results demonstrated that the mean menarcheal age in Marechal Candido Rondon is 12,16 ± 0,81 years (N = 169), with a minimum age of 9,9 years and a maximum of 14,6 years. The frequency of menarche for the interviewed girls was 0.6, 4.7, 40.8, 36.7, 16 and 1,2% for the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 year old classes, respectively. The mean menarcheal age of girls of Marechal Candido Rondon is similar to those reported in other Brazilian areas.