Incidence and Severity of Premenstrual Syndrome and its relationship with Social and Demographic Characteristics among Student's College, Gonabad - 2013

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is one of the most common gynecologic complications leading absence of work and decline in educational performance. Since the first step for prevention and management of PMS is awareness of its incidence and severity, this study was performed with aim to evaluate the incidence and severity of premenstrual syndrome and its related factors. This cross-sectional study was performed on 270 female students educating in Gonabad in 2013. They had regular menstrual cycle and no history of physical or mental disorders. Participants after completing the social and demographic questionnaires, they filled out Daily Record of Severity of Problems chart (DRSP) for two successive menstrual cycles. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 16), and Chi-square and student-t test. Frequency of premenstrual syndrome was 78.1%. The severity of this syndrome was severe in 13 students (4.7%), moderate in 34 (12.8%), and mild in 196 (72.5%). PMS was significantly higher with increasing age and dissatisfaction regarding family income (P=0.012, P=0.037, respectively). There is no significantly relation between PMS and weight, BMI, menarche age, ethnicity, education level, father and mother's education, economic situation, home status and weekly exercise (P>0.05). The incidence of PMS is high and in most cases mild among Gonabad's students. Considering the incidence of this syndrome, designing health programs for managing PMS is recommended.