The Effect of Early Menarche on the Sexual Behaviors of Korean Female Adolescents

This study examined the relationships between early menarche and sexual behaviors among Korean female adolescents.

We analyzed data from the eighth Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based survey that was conducted on female high school students in grades 10-12. The survey included 17,867 students, and 974 students were assigned to the early menarche group because they had experienced menarche when they were in grade four or below, and 16,893 students were assigned to the normal menarche group because they had experienced menarche during or after grade five. The characteristics of the sexual behaviors in the early menarche and normal menarche group were analyzed.

The early menarche group was at a higher risk of intersexual kissing or petting, intersexual intercourse, homosexual kissing or petting, homosexual intercourse, being the victim or the assailant of sexual assaults, intercourse without any contraception, and pregnancy than the normal menarche group.

Early menarche is associated with risky sexual behaviors among adolescent females; therefore, developing comprehensive sexual health education programs and tools for early intervention are required for children who are expected to experience early menarche.

Table 2

The effect of early menarche on the sexual behaviors from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based survey (2012)

Values are presented as number (%).

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

a)Odds ratio (adjusted for sociodemographic variables of paternal educational level, maternal educational level, living with both parents, academic performance and household income) for early menarche group for event compared with normal menarche group.

Full article at: http://goo.gl/emmQQb

By: Ji In Cheong, MD,1 Chang Hun Lee, MD,2 Jae Hong Park, MD, PhD,2 Byeong Jin Ye, MD, PhD,3 Kyoung Ah Kwon, MD,1 Young Seok Lee, MD, PhD,1 and Jae Ho Yoo, MD1

¹Department of Pediatrics, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.

²Department of Psychiatry, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.

³Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.

Corresponding author.

Address for correspondence: Jae Ho Yoo, MD. Department of Pediatrics, Dong-A University Hospital, Dong-A University College of Medicine, 26 Daesingongwon-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 49201, Korea. Tel: +82-51-240-2883, Fax: +82-51-242-2765, Email: rk.ca.uad@odnedep

   

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