---
title: How common is premenstrual syndrome among female medical students and does it affect their grades?
description: 65.4% of female medical students had premenstrual syndrome, but it did not significantly affect their academic performance.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/prevalence-of-premenstrual-syndrome-and-its-effect-on-academic-performance-among-2022/
---

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- How common is premenstrual syndrome among female medical students and does it affect their grades?

Survey study, 2022

# How common is premenstrual syndrome among female medical students and does it affect their grades?

65.4% of female medical students had premenstrual syndrome, but it did not significantly affect their academic performance.

 Early or limited evidence

257 female medical students aged 18-29 at Taibah University in Saudi Arabia

## What they did

Cross-sectional study of 257 female medical students in Saudi Arabia using a self-administered questionnaire about menstrual and premenstrual symptoms.

## What they found

65.4% had PMS using a scale cut-off of 111. PMS was associated with menstrual pain (p<0.001), family history of PMS (p=0.016), dysmenorrhea (p=0.002), and back pain or cramps (p<0.001 and p=0.007). It did not impact academic performance but affected the daily work of many students.

## What it means for you

PMS is very common in this student population but did not lower their grades. However, it did affect daily activities and was linked to pain symptoms and family history. The study was limited to one university in Saudi Arabia and relied on students reporting their own symptoms.

65.4%

had PMS

257

students studied

21.8 years

average age

## About the study

Original title Prevalence of Premenstrual Syndrome and Its Effect on Academic Performance among Taibah University Student in Al Madinah Authors Alhawsawi NM, W Shiekh, 2Consultant Family Medicine et al. Journal Journal of Family Medicine Year 2022 Study design Survey study Participants 257 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.26420/jfammed.2022.1301](https://doi.org/10.26420/jfammed.2022.1301)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Dysmenorrhea and period pain](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-dysmenorrhea/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)

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Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor.

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