--- title: How common are premenstrual symptoms in female medical students, and how severe are they? description: About 30% have premenstrual symptoms, mostly mild. Psychological symptoms like irritability are more common than physical ones. url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/prevalence-of-premenstrual-symptoms-and-symptom-severity-among-female-medical-2021/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - How common are premenstrual symptoms in female medical students, and how severe are they? Survey study, 2021 # How common are premenstrual symptoms in female medical students, and how severe are they? About 30% have premenstrual symptoms, mostly mild. Psychological symptoms like irritability are more common than physical ones. Early or limited evidence 500 female medical students at a government medical college in Punjab, India, ages 18-28 ## What they did Cross-sectional study of 500 female medical students aged 18-28 at a medical college in Punjab, India. They filled out questionnaires about premenstrual symptoms and rated severity on a 4-point scale. Symptoms were split into physical (breast tenderness, bloating) and psychological (irritability, mood swings). ## What they found 30.24% reported one or more premenstrual symptoms. Of those with symptoms, 22.76% had mild severity, 5.6% had moderate, and 1.87% had severe symptoms. Among physical symptoms, breast tenderness was most common, followed by bloating and weight gain. Among psychological symptoms, irritability was most common, followed by restlessness and mood swings. ## What it means for you About one-third of this group has premenstrual symptoms, with most being mild. But this is only medical students at one college in India, so may not represent all women. The study recommends tracking symptoms daily over at least one cycle for accurate diagnosis. 30.24% Have premenstrual symptoms 22.76% Have mild symptoms 5.6% Have moderate symptoms ## About the study Original title Prevalence of Premenstrual Symptoms and Symptom Severity among Female Medical Students - An Institutional Study Authors Neelam Banga, Gagandeep Kaur, Gunjeet Singh Sandhu et al. Journal Journal of Evidence Based Medicine and Healthcare Year 2021 Study design Survey study Participants 500 What was tested None - observational study Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.18410/jebmh/2021/7](https://doi.org/10.18410/jebmh/2021/7) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Bloating, breast tenderness and physical symptoms](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-physical-symptoms/)[Major depressive disorder](https://niyora.com/research/topics/comorbidity-major-depression/)[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 Study, 2026 What are premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder? Survey study, 2025 What factors are linked to PMS in female graduate students? Survey study, 2024 How common is dysmenorrhea related to PMS in university students, and how do they treat it? Survey study, 2023 Does PMS affect school performance and relationships in female medical students? Survey study, 2022 Did COVID-19 stress worsen period pain and PMS symptoms in female medical students? Survey study, 2015 How common is PMS in teenage school girls in an urban city in India? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗