Knowledge and Awareness on Premenstrual Symptoms – A Cross Sectional Survey

Background: A majority of women from all cultures and socioeconomic levels experience myriad symptoms known as premenstrual syndrome during the days prior to menstruation. The present study investigated commonly reported symptoms in the premenstrual phase among college students. The authors further scrutinized potential factors, including subjective perceptions of health, which may be related to the premenstrual-symptom constellation. The aim of the study is to evaluate the awareness of premenstrual symptoms.

Materials and Methods: A questionnaire of 16 questions was created and entered in the online survey creator ‘Google Forms’ and shared individually among dental students and specialist and data were collected subject to statistical analysis using SPSS software. Statistical tests used were descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests.

Results: Regardless of severity, the 10 symptoms most often occurring among the participants included skin disorders, irritability, fatigue, mood swings, general aches, pains, lowered school or work performance, backache, painful breasts, weight gain, and swelling. Results of this study 90% of the participants aware about premenstrual symptoms 10% of the participants unaware of premenstrual symptoms and they need an effective education and awareness campaign to increase their knowledge and awareness on premenstrual symptoms. The obtained p-value was >0.05 was considered statistically insignificant.

Conclusions: The present study indicates the prevalence of premenstrual symptoms, regardless of severity, among college students and suggests that negative subjective perceptions of health and stress may be related to the intensity of premenstrual symptomatology.