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Non-randomised trial, 2025

Does pilates exercise reduce PMS symptoms in adolescent girls?

Yes. After six weeks of pilates, mild PMS cases increased from 50 to 164 girls, severe cases dropped from 22 to 10, and overall PMS scores fell significantly (p less than 0.001).

Moderate study design 231 adolescent girls aged 13-17 from schools in North Gujarat, India

What they did

231 girls aged 13-17 in North Gujarat did a six-week pilates program: five sessions per week. Researchers measured PMS severity before and after using a standard symptom scale.

What they found

Mild PMS cases increased from 50 to 164 girls post-intervention. Severe PMS cases decreased from 22 to 10. The mean PMS score showed a highly significant drop (T = 13.122, p less than 0.001).

What it means for you

Pilates exercise may reduce PMS in teenage girls. The main limits are that there was no control group, the study was in one region, and only adolescents were tested, so we cannot be certain pilates would work as well in older women.

231

Girls studied

164

Had mild PMS after (vs 50 before)

6 weeks

Duration of program

About the study

Original title
Pilates exercises for managing premenstrual syndrome among adolescent girls
Authors
Tejmalji VP, B M, N SS
Journal
Bioinformation
Year
2025
Study design
Non-randomised trial
Participants
231
What was tested
Pilates exercise: 6 weeks, 5 times per week
Open access
Yes
Original abstract

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a common condition among adolescent girls, characterized by physical, emotional and behavioural symptoms that significantly impact their quality of life. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the impact of pilates exercises on alleviating PMS symptoms among adolescent girls, providing evidence for its use as a holistic intervention. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was employed; involving 231 adolescent girls aged 13-17 years from selected schools in North Gujarat. Participants underwent a six-week pilates exercise program, conducted five times weekly. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Modified PMS Scale to assess pre- and post-intervention symptoms the intervention led to a significant reduction in PMS severity, with mild PMS cases increasing from 50 to 164 and severe cases decreasing from 22 to 10 post-intervention. Paired t-tests revealed a highly significant mean difference in PMS scores (T = 13.122, p < 0.001).

Reproduced under CC-BY.

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