Patterns of Premenstrual Syndrome in College Students of Ilam Universi ties in the Year 2020: A Descriptive Study

The premenstrual syndrome (PMS) causes changes in womenchr('39')s emotions, behavior, and performance, each of which plays an important role in womenchr('39')s lives. The aim of the present study was to identify the patterns of PMS in students.

In a descriptive study, 331 female students of Ilam universities in the year 2020 were assessed by an electronic questionnaire. Demographic variables, PMS symptoms, anxiety, and depression in students were assessed. Explanatory factor analysis was used to identify PMS patterns. Spearman’s correlation was used to determine the relationship between any PMS patterns and other variables.

Explanatory factor analysis showed that the symptoms of PMS in students consist of three factors: emotional instability and apathy (mood, physical and behavioral symptoms), decreased social communication, sleep, and nutrition problems, which explain 62.3% of PMS changes. Spearman’s correlation coefficient between age, weight, sleep time, anxiety, and depression with three PMS factors, showed that there were significant relationships between age and the first factor (p=0.044, rs=-0.112), age and the second factor (p=0.036, rs=0.117), weight and the first factor (p=0.014, rs=-0.137), anxiety and the first factor (p<0.001, rs=0.563), anxiety and the third factor (p<0.001, rs=0.472), depression and the first factor (p<0.001, rs=0.575), depression and the third factor (p<0.001, rs=-0.405).

According to correlation coefficients of PMS factors with anxiety, depression, age, weight, and sleeping time, attention should be paid to these correlation coefficients in managements of PMS symptoms in each of these variables.