Survey study, 2018
How common are premenstrual symptoms in female workers, and does exercise help?
Fatigue (24%), backache (21.2%), and abdominal bloating (17.4%) were the most common symptoms. Women who exercised regularly reported significantly fewer backaches, less irritability, depression, and less crying.
What they did
Cross-sectional study of 7,193 female workers aged 18-55 at an electronics manufacturer in Taiwan between August and December 2014. Researchers collected information on symptoms, exercise habits, and menstrual history through surveys.
What they found
The most common premenstrual symptoms were fatigue (24%), backache (21.2%), and abdominal bloating (17.4%). Women who exercised regularly reported fewer backaches (adjusted odds ratio 0.79), somatic discomfort (0.78), headache (0.82), diarrhea (0.76), constipation (0.59), less irritability (0.78), feeling morose and depressed (0.75), crying (0.51), emotional lability (0.73), and decreased menstrual pain (0.85).
What it means for you
Regular exercise may help reduce premenstrual symptoms including pain and emotional changes. However, this study cannot prove that exercise causes the improvement, since women who feel better may be more likely to exercise. The study only included workers at one company in Taiwan, so results may not apply to all women.
7,193
women studied
24%
reported fatigue as most common symptom
0.51
odds ratio for crying in exercisers vs non-exercisers
About the study
- Original title
- The prevalence of self-reported premenstrual symptoms and evaluation of regular exercise with premenstrual symptoms among female employees in Taiwan
- Authors
- Tsai SY, Kuo FC, Kuo HC et al.
- Journal
- Women & health
- Year
- 2018
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 7,193
- What was tested
- Regular exercise (observed, not randomly assigned)
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2017.1296056
Topics
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