The Correlation Between Sodium Intake and Primary Dysmenorrhea Severity in Overnourished University Students

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_12How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Female adolescents; Primary dysmenorrhea; Overnutrition; Sodium intake; University student

Abstract

Primary dysmenorrhea is commonly found in female adolescents who experience menstruation. Overnutrition can increase the risk of dysmenorrhea because excess body weight raises prostaglandin levels in the body, which triggers menstrual pain. Dietary patterns that tend to favour less nutritious foods, such as fast food that is high in sodium, can affect prostaglandin hormone levels in the body and lead to dysmenorrhea. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between sodium intake and the severity of primary dysmenorrhea in overnourished university students. This study used an observational analytic design with a cross-sectional method. The participants were 48 overnourished female students from non-health study programs in Malang City selected using purposive sampling. Data on sodium intake was obtained using a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SQ-FFQ), and primary dysmenorrhea pain level was measured using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS). The results showed that 47.9% of participants experienced moderate-level primary dysmenorrhea, and 83.3% of participants had high sodium intake levels. The median sodium intake was 3,959.4 (1,804.8–8,722.0) mg/day. Based on the Spearman correlation test, a significant positive correlation with moderate strength was found between sodium intake and primary dysmenorrhea severity (ρ=0.515, p<.001). It can be concluded that there is a significant correlation between sodium intake and the level of primary dysmenorrhea, where higher sodium intake is associated with greater menstrual pain severity.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - D. Karina Alya
AU  - Annisa Rizky Maulidiana
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - The Correlation Between Sodium Intake and Primary Dysmenorrhea Severity in Overnourished University Students
BT  - Proceedings of the 6th International Nursing and Health Sciences Symposium (INHSS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 107
EP  - 116
SN  - 2468-5739
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_12
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-770-5_12
ID  - Alya2026
ER  -