In a cross-sectional retrospective study of 2087 Ghanaian school girls in various educational institutions in the Kumasi district, Ashanti region, Ghana, the mean menarcheal age was found to be 13.98 +/- 1.42 years. Differences in the menarcheal age of the girls was found to be significantly correlated to social class, parents ethnic origin, educational institution and home living area (P = 0.0001). The duration of the menarche and the interval between the menarche and the second period was found to be influenced by the age at menarche (P less than 0.01). Decline in menarcheal age in concurrence with world trends was observed. Further studies are necessary to identify the inherent and specific factors in the Ghanaian population which relate to and influence the age of menarche.
PIP: In a cross-sectional retrospective study of 2087 Ghanian school girls in various educational institutions in the Kumasi district, Ashanti region, Ghana, the mean menarcheal age was 13.98 +- 1.42 S.D. years. The respondents ranged in age from 10-49 years. The mean age of the respondents was 19.18 years + or - 5.00 S.D. Differences in the menarcheal age were found to be correlated to social class, parents' ethnic origin, educational institution, and home living area. An analysis of variance was carried out with Chi-square analysis. The mean duration of the menstrual period was found to be 4.79 days with 64.42% having the normal duration of 3-5 days. The mean interval between menarche and the 2nd period was 65.05 days with 41.68% of the girls having had the normal interval of 26-30 days. The menarcheal age is compared to other Africans. Among Ghanians, the lowest mean age (13.00 years) by parents' ethnic group occurred among the Ga-Adangbes, Fantes, Akwakims, and Ewes. The difference in menarcheal age by parental ethnic group was statistically significant (P=0.0001). The 4 ethnic groups with the lowest menarcheal ages are southern Ghana ethnic groups. A statistically significant relation between menarcheal age and socioeconomic class is found (P=0.0001). The children of the most affluent social class have the lowest age (13.26) while those whose parents belong to social class 3 had a higher menarcheal age. The influence of social class is reflected in a statistically significant difference in the mean menarcheal age in different educational institutions. The home living area showed statistically significant influence in the variation in menarcheal age. Girls from urban areas had the lowest mean menarcheal age of 13.74 years. Girls from suburban and rural areas had mean ages of 14.47 and 14.75 respectively. The study showed a statistical decline in menarcheal age between 1946 and 1976-- a decline of 12.75 months (1.06 years).