---
title: Can support delivered through a smartphone app, texting, and email reduce PMS symptoms in university students?
description: Yes, in this small study, students who got this social-media-based support had lower PMS scores and more physical activity than those who did not.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/effects-of-a-social-media-based-support-on-premenstrual-syndrome-and-physical-2020/
---

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- Can support delivered through a smartphone app, texting, and email reduce PMS symptoms in university students?

Randomised trial, 2020

# Can support delivered through a smartphone app, texting, and email reduce PMS symptoms in university students?

Yes, in this small study, students who got this social-media-based support had lower PMS scores and more physical activity than those who did not.

 Moderate study design

64 female university students with PMS in South Korea.

## What they did

A South Korean study randomly assigned 64 female university students with PMS to receive social-media-based support (via app, text messages, and email) or no such support, over one menstrual cycle, between September and December 2016.

## What they found

The support group had significantly lower total PMS scores (p = .003) across 14 premenstrual symptoms, and significantly higher physical activity (p = .010), compared with the control group.

## What it means for you

A simple, accessible phone-based support tool may help with PMS symptoms and encourage more activity, but the study was small, short (one cycle), and only in South Korean students, so it's an early finding.

64

Participants

p=.003

PMS score difference

p=.010

Physical activity difference

## About the study

Original title Effects of a social-media-based support on premenstrual syndrome and physical activity among female university students in South Korea Authors Nam SJ, Cha C Journal Journal of psychosomatic obstetrics and gynaecology Year 2020 Study design Randomised trial Participants 64 What was tested Social-media-based support (app, text messaging, email) over one menstrual cycle. Read the paper [doi.org/10.1080/0167482x.2018.1559811](https://doi.org/10.1080/0167482x.2018.1559811)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Exercise and yoga](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-exercise/)[Apps and digital interventions](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-digital-health/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)

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

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Systematic review, 2025

How common are PMS, PMDD, and painful periods in nursing students, and do they affect their schooling?

Survey study, 2026

Do young women with PMS search online for health information more and develop health anxiety from it?

Lab study, 2026

Do core stability exercises help women with PMDD?

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