Premenstrual syndrome and quality of life in Iranian medical students

Purpose of studyThe purpose of this research was to investigate the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in medical students and to evaluate the hypothesis that PMS may result in a decrease in quality of life.MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, 142 female medical students who study at Urmia University of Medical Sciences were included. The data were compiled using a PMS questionnaire based on the fourth version (DSM-IV) criteria, the questionnaire of “Premenstrual Syndrome Scale” as well as the “World Health Organization's Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF)” questionnaire.FindingsIn total, 56 out of 142 (39.4%) female medical students met the DSM-IV criteria for PMS. In the PMS group, more than half of the girls, i.e. 60.6% had mild, 25.1% had moderate and 14.2% had severe PMS. PMS was found to be significantly high in students who have positive history of PMS in their first degree relatives and who have used drugs to relieve PMS symptoms (P < 0.05). Life quality score was low in more than half of the medical students, especially in psychological and social components (P > 0.05). However, the quality of life score means in mental health (P = 0.02) and environmental health (P = 0.002) decreases as the PMS score average increases.ConclusionThe results of premenstrual syndrome prevalence and their severity suggest that PMS is common in medical students and this adversely affects some domains of the quality of life. Improving the life quality of female medical students needs some interventions related to the PMS and also other interventions not related to PMS.