Üniversite Öğrencilerinde Premenstrüel Semptomların Prevalansı

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of premenstrual symptoms in college students. Material and Methods: Five hundred and thirty-seven consecutive students who admitted to the outpatient clinic between May 2010 and September 2010 were assessed regarding their premenstrual symptoms using “The premenstrual symptoms screening tool” (PSST); developed by Steiner et al. which includes a set of questions on premenstrual symptoms. Weighted prevalence rates for premenstrual symptoms, oral contraceptive use and mean duration of symptoms were evaluated. Results: The mean age of the participants were 21.4±2.7 years. The prevalence of moderate and severe premenstrual symptoms were 34.1% and 19.5%, respectively. Ninety percent of the participants reported at least one symptom. The mean duration of symptoms in a menstrual cycle were 5.7±0.9 days in participants with moderate prermenstrual symptoms and 6.1±0.8 days in participants with severe premenstrual symptoms. Mean duration of premenstrual symptoms ranged between 3-6 years. Only 5.5% of the participants with severe premenstrual symptoms were seeking for treatment. Conclusion: This study indicates that premenstrual symptoms are common in university students, but only few of them seek for medical care for severe premenstrual symptoms. It is definitely essential to inform the university population about the symptoms and the treatment modalities of premenstrual symptoms as this condition may have strong negative impact on the school performance, daily function and quality of life.