Study, 2014
What symptoms do women experience before and during their period, and what makes them worse?
Tension and breast tenderness are common before the period, while cramps and back pain are common during it. Working, smoking, heavy tea or coffee drinking, and relationship stress are linked with worse symptoms.
What they did
Surveyed 273 women aged 15-49 in one city in Turkey about symptoms around their menstrual cycle. They used the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire to measure symptoms in face-to-face interviews.
What they found
Before the period, tension (76.6%) and breast tenderness (74.4%) were most common. During the period, cramps (76.6%) and back pain (73.3%) were most common. About 46.4% used medication. Working, smoking, heavy tea or coffee drinking, and relationship problems were all linked to higher symptom scores.
What it means for you
Most women experience moderate to severe symptoms before and during their period. Several lifestyle and social factors appear linked to worse symptoms. This study was in one city in Turkey, so results may not apply to all women.
273
Women surveyed
76.6%
Tension before period
46.4%
Medication use
About the study
- Original title
- Perimenstrual complaints and related affecting factors in women in Ödemiş
- Authors
- Zeynep Daşıkan, Gülhan Taş Çay, Gülhan Sözen
- Journal
- Journal of Turkish Society of Obstetric and Gynecology
- Year
- 2014
- Study design
- Study
- What was tested
- None—this was a survey, not a treatment study.
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.4274/tjod.48726