Survey study, 2024
Do women with worse PMS use more complementary and alternative medicine?
No clear relationship was found between PMS symptom severity and attitudes toward complementary medicine. However, women with PMS commonly use self-help methods.
What they did
470 female health sciences students answered questionnaires about PMS symptoms and their attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine between March and June 2023.
What they found
No clear relationship between PMS severity and attitudes toward complementary medicine. The most common self-help methods were sleep or rest (92.6%), hot drinks (85.7%), hot showers (84.9%), and abdominal massage (81.7%). Women with irregular periods, smokers, those not eating healthily, and those drinking too much coffee had more PMS symptoms.
What it means for you
Many women with PMS use simple self-help methods like sleep, heat, and massage, even though they do not necessarily have stronger attitudes toward complementary medicine overall. Irregular periods, smoking, poor diet, and high coffee intake were linked with worse symptoms. This study measured women once, so we cannot be sure these factors cause worse symptoms.
470
students surveyed
92.6%
used sleep or rest for symptoms
85.7%
used hot drinks for symptoms
About the study
- Original title
- THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME EXPERIENCE AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE OF HEALTH SCIENCES FACULTY STUDENTS
- Authors
- Didem Kaya, Zeliha Kaya Erten
- Journal
- Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi
- Year
- 2024
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 470
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.34108/eujhs.1385963
Topics
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