Skip to content

Survey study, 2022

Does physical activity or anxiety affect PMS in young women?

Anxiety is strongly linked to PMS, but physical activity is not. Girls with higher anxiety had more severe PMS symptoms.

Moderate study design 143 adolescent girls in Surabaya, Indonesia

What they did

Researchers surveyed 143 adolescent girls in Indonesia about their physical activity, anxiety levels, and PMS symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. They used a statistical test (Spearman Rho) to see what was connected to PMS.

What they found

No link was found between physical activity and PMS. However, anxiety was strongly related to PMS. Girls with anxiety had higher risk of PMS, and the higher the anxiety, the more severe the PMS symptoms (p=0.000, r=0.463).

What it means for you

If you have anxiety about PMS or other worries, this may worsen your symptoms. The main limits are that this was done during pandemic school closures so results may be different in normal times, and researchers only observed the connection, so anxiety may not directly cause PMS.

143

girls studied

r=0.463

anxiety-PMS link strength

p=0.000

anxiety-PMS significance

About the study

Original title
Physical activity and anxiety with complaints of PMS in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors
Ni Ketut Alit Armini, Arinda Naimatuz Zahriya, Laily Hidayati et al.
Journal
International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS)
Year
2022
Study design
Survey study
Participants
221
What was tested
None. Observational study of physical activity and anxiety versus PMS
Open access
Yes

Topics