A Study on the Prevalence of Premenstrual Syndrome among Adolescent Girls in a Selected School at Erode

Background: Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) is recurrent variable cluster of troublesome physical and emotional symptoms that develop 7-14 days before the onset of menstruation and subsides when menstruation occurs.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of pre-menstrual syndrome among adolescent girls. Design: A cross - sectional descriptive design was adopted for the study.

Setting: Seventh Day Adventists School, Erode.

Participants: 200 adolescent girls fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected by Stratified sampling technique.

Methods: All participants were given a questionnaire to complete; questions were related to Baseline Proforma of adolescent girls and checklist on the common premenstrual symptoms, participants were given 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

Results: The findings revealed that the majority (54%) of the samples had mild PMS, 28% as moderate and 18% of them had severe PMS. There was a significant association between the prevalence of PMS scores and variables like age ( χ² = 4.51 , p > 0.05) and school absenteeism ( χ²= 6.62 , p > 0.05). But there was no significant association with prevalence of PMS among adolescent girls and other variables like age at menarche, duration of cycle, type of flow, family history of PMS, academic performance and source of information.

Conclusion: PMS is highly prevalent among female students. Maximum participants do not seek medical advice and taking self treatment.