Survey study, 2025
Does sleep quality affect the severity of premenstrual symptoms?
Yes, women with poor sleep quality had significantly higher scores for premenstrual symptoms across all phases of the menstrual cycle compared to those with normal sleep quality.
What they did
Cross-sectional online survey of 298 Japanese female students aged 18 to 25. Participants were grouped into normal sleep quality (160 women) and low sleep quality (138 women) based on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The Menstrual Distress Questionnaire measured symptom severity.
What they found
Women with low sleep quality had significantly higher total symptom scores across all phases of the cycle (premenstrual, menstrual, and postmenstrual). Among specific symptoms, pain during menstruation and concentration problems during the premenstrual and postmenstrual phases showed the strongest association with sleep quality.
What it means for you
Poor sleep is linked to worse premenstrual symptoms, suggesting that sleep improvement might reduce symptom severity. However, this is an observational study, so it shows only association and cannot prove that poor sleep causes worse symptoms. The study includes only Japanese students, so results may not apply to other populations.
298
Total female students surveyed
160
Women with normal sleep quality
138
Women with low sleep quality
About the study
- Original title
- Effect of sleep quality on the severity of perimenstrual symptoms in Japanese female students: a cross-sectional, online survey
- Authors
- Oda S, Maeda N, Tashiro T et al.
- Journal
- BMJ open
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 298
- What was tested
- None; observational study comparing sleep quality groups
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-093197
Topics
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