Socio-demographic Factors and Premenstrual Syndrome among Women attending a Teaching Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan

摘要

BACKGROUND: The premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is common in younger age women and present a significant public health problem. Previous studies have reported that up to 90% women of child-bearing age experience premenstrual symptoms. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of PMS in women of reproductive age and its association with socio-demographic factors in an urban medical center in Islamabad, Pakistan. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted during a three months period. Four hundred and twenty two women between the ages of 15 and 45 years, who were seen in the gynecology outpatient department, maternal child health (MCH) centre Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad , were recruited. Of these, 350 (83%) respondent women were interviewed on pre-tested and validated questionnaire. Various social, demographic, and clinical variables were compared between women with and without PMS using chi-square test. RESULTS: Of the 350 participants, 167 had diagnosis of PMS; 51% had mild, 37% had moderate and 12% had severe symptoms. Women with PMS were statistically significantly different in age, residence and income from women without PMS. The prevalence of abdominal bloating, headache, breast tenderness, anxiety and depression and anger outburst was higher in women with PMS than those without PMS. CONCLUSION: Significant proportion of reproductive age women group suffer from PMS. However, routine screening might help in early diagnosis and management of this problem on time