--- title: How common is PMS and what factors are associated with it in college-aged women in Saudi Arabia? description: 96.6% experienced at least one premenstrual symptom and 37.5% had high severity. Risk factors included maternal history of PMS, perceived mental stress, physi url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/prevalence-and-predictors-of-premenstrual-syndrome-among-college-aged-women-in-2003/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - How common is PMS and what factors are associated with it in college-aged women in Saudi Arabia? Survey study, 2003 # How common is PMS and what factors are associated with it in college-aged women in Saudi Arabia? 96.6% experienced at least one premenstrual symptom and 37.5% had high severity. Risk factors included maternal history of PMS, perceived mental stress, physical inactivity, and consuming sweet foods and coffee, though these explained only 14% of symptom variation. Early or limited evidence 464 college-aged women in medical, nursing, and health technology programs in Dammam, Saudi Arabia ## What they did Cross-sectional survey of 464 college-aged women enrolled in medical, nursing, and health technology programs at a university in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Participants answered a self-report questionnaire about premenstrual symptoms experienced during the previous six months. ## What they found 448 women (96.6%) experienced at least one premenstrual symptom. 176 women (37.5%) had high symptom severity scores. Significant associations were found with maternal history of PMS, self-perception of mental stress, lower physical activity, consumption of sweet-tasting foods, and coffee consumption. However, these factors combined explained only 14% of the variability in symptom scores. ## What it means for you PMS is extremely common in this college-aged population. Several lifestyle and psychological factors are associated with PMS, but they explain only a small fraction of symptom variation, suggesting many unknown causes remain. Findings are specific to Saudi Arabia and may not apply elsewhere. 96.6% Experienced at least one symptom 37.5% Had high symptom severity 14% Variation explained by risk factors ## About the study Original title Prevalence and predictors of premenstrual syndrome among college-aged women in Saudi Arabia Authors Rasheed P, Al-Sowielem LS Journal Annals of Saudi medicine Year 2003 Study design Survey study Participants 464 What was tested None. This was an observational study examining associations between lifestyle factors and PMS symptom severity. Read the paper [doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2003.381](https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2003.381) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Stress](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-stress/)[Psychotherapy, counselling and education](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-psychotherapy/)[Diet and nutrition](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-diet/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)[Stigma, attitudes and culture](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-stigma-culture/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Survey study, 2026 What factors most strongly drive PMS severity in female engineering students? Non-randomised trial, 2026 Does 6 weeks of online nutrition education reduce PMS symptoms? Survey study, 2024 Can yoga and diet reduce premenstrual syndrome symptoms? Study, 2023 How does menstruation affect different areas of women's lives? Non-randomised trial, 2022 Is nutrition status linked to PMS, and does health education help? Survey study, 2020 Do negative attitudes about menstruation and suggestibility predict worse PMS pain and distress? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗