Survey study, 2017
How common are PMS and painful periods in female medical students and do they affect daily life?
About 7 in 10 have painful periods and about 8 in 10 have premenstrual symptoms. Over half reported disruption to daily life, studying, and social activities.
What they did
This survey included 292 female medical students in Malaysia from March to December 2015. Students filled out questionnaires about menstrual symptoms including pain rated on a scale of 0 to 10, and reported how symptoms affected daily activities, ability to study, and school attendance.
What they found
Of 292 students, 69.5% had painful periods with median pain of 5 out of 10. 84.9% had premenstrual symptoms. 52.7% reported disrupted daily activities: 77.3% needed prolonged rest, 42.9% could not study, 29.9% missed social activities, 22.1% missed classes. 65.8% had mild irritability and 20.5% had moderate irritability.
What it means for you
PMS and painful periods are very common in this student population and significantly impact ability to study and participate socially. Main limitation is that this studied only medical students in one college in Malaysia, so findings may not apply to all women or other populations.
292
students surveyed
69.5%
had painful periods
84.9%
had premenstrual symptoms
About the study
- Original title
- Premenstrual Symptoms and Dysmenorrhea Associated with Daily Routine Activities among Female Undergraduate Medical Students
- Authors
- Htoo Htoo Kyaw Soe, Nan Nitra Than, Htay Lwin et al.
- Journal
- Journal of Advances in Medicine and Medical Research
- Year
- 2017
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 292
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.9734/bjmmr/2017/33493
Topics
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