---
title: How common are PMS and PMDD among female medical students, and do they affect schoolwork?
description: In this study of 182 female medical students, 90.1% met criteria for PMS and 26.4% for PMDD. Over 70% reported that symptoms harmed their exam performance and
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/a-nonparametric-bayesian-approach-to-estimating-malaria-prophylactic-effect-2013/
---

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- How common are PMS and PMDD among female medical students, and do they affect schoolwork?

Survey study, 2013

# How common are PMS and PMDD among female medical students, and do they affect schoolwork?

In this study of 182 female medical students, 90.1% met criteria for PMS and 26.4% for PMDD. Over 70% reported that symptoms harmed their exam performance and concentration.

 Early or limited evidence

182 female medical students at one college in Pakistan with regular menstrual cycles and no major health conditions

## What they did

Cross-sectional study over two months at one medical college. All female medical students with regular cycles and no major health issues were invited to fill a questionnaire about symptoms based on standard criteria, then researchers looked for links between symptom severity and academic problems.

## What they found

Of 182 students, 90.1% met criteria for PMS and 26.4% met criteria for PMDD. The most common moderate-to-severe symptoms were fatigue (61.0%), irritability (52.2%), and depressed mood (50.5%). Over 70% reported that symptoms negatively affected exam performance and concentration. More severe symptoms were linked to worse academic problems.

## What it means for you

PMS and PMDD are very common in medical students and clearly affect their ability to study and perform on exams. The main limitation is that this was only one college in one country, and the study only included medical students, not all women, so results may not apply everywhere.

90.1%

Percentage meeting PMS criteria

26.4%

Percentage meeting PMDD criteria

61.0%

Fatigue as most common severe symptom

## About the study

Original title A Nonparametric Bayesian Approach to Estimating Malaria Prophylactic Effect After Two Treatments Authors Sadia Shoukat, Azra Ahmed, Sakeena Ahmed et al. Journal Journal of Gandhara Medical and Dental Science Year 2013 Study design Survey study Participants 182 Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.37762/jgmds.13-2.803](https://doi.org/10.37762/jgmds.13-2.803)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/)[Quality of life and daily functioning](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-quality-of-life/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)

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