Interview study, 2017
How common and severe are premenstrual symptoms in young medical and nursing students?
Premenstrual symptoms were extremely common, affecting 97.10% of students, and 76.83% met the criteria for PMS, but for most of them the symptoms were mild.
What they did
Researchers studied 820 medical and nursing students at a tertiary hospital and research centre between October 2012 and May 2013. Students filled in questionnaires based on official criteria (ACOG) to diagnose PMS, plus questions about their background and reproductive history. Symptoms were compared using statistical tests (chi square).
What they found
97.10% of students had some premenstrual symptoms, and 76.83% were diagnosed with PMS. Of those, 89.21% had mild symptoms, 10.04% had moderate symptoms, and 0.75% had severe symptoms. The most common emotional symptom was irritability, and the most common physical symptom was abdominal bloating. PMS was linked to having regular periods, starting periods at age 12 or later, and bleeding for 3 to 6 days.
What it means for you
PMS is very common in young women of reproductive age, though usually mild rather than severe. Things like a later first period, regular cycles, and moderate bleeding length may raise the chance of having PMS. This was a survey without a comparison group, done in one type of setting (medical/nursing students), so results may not apply to all women.
97.10%
Had premenstrual symptoms
76.83%
Diagnosed with PMS
89.21%
Symptoms rated mild
About the study
- Original title
- A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF PREMENSTRUAL SYMPTOMS IN MEDICAL AND NURSING STUDENTS
- Authors
- Kaveri Nikhil Chougule, Nikhil Chougule P, M T Satyanarayana et al.
- Journal
- Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences
- Year
- 2017
- Study design
- Interview study
- Participants
- 820
- What was tested
- None (questionnaire survey)
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.14260/jemds/2017/771
Topics
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