Knowledge, attitude, experience and management on premenstrual syndrome among secondary level adolescence girl students of Kirtipur Municipality, Kathmandu, Nepal

Abstract

Background: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a common menstrual disorder that affects the quality of life of women. The objective of this study is to identify the knowledge, attitude, experience and management on pre-menstrual syndrome among higher secondary level adolescence girls’ students of Kirtipur Municipality of Kathmandu district.
 Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 322 adolescence girl students of higher secondary school of Kritipur Municipality using pre-tested self-administered questionnaire.
 Results: The mean age of the respondents was 17 years. It was found that 90.2% of the respondent had very poor knowledge on premenstrual syndrome and 9.2% of the respondent had fair /below average knowledge regarding PMS. The level of knowledge among the study participants was found statistically significant with education status of mother (p=0.002) and that of father (p=0.013). The prevalence of PMS among the female students of higher secondary level was found to be high (77%). Considerably high proportion of the participants reported having at least one somatic and one affective symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. The most frequent affective symptoms experienced by the respondents were mood swings, headache, irritability and somatic symptom was acnes in this study.
 Conclusions: Majority of the respondents had poor knowledge and extremely negative attitude towards PMS. High proportion of the participants reported having at least one somatic and one affective symptom of PMS. Comprehensive education on menstrual health and PMS can be suggested for the adolescence girl in school level.