Premenstrual Syndrome and Its Impact on the Quality of Life of Female Medical Students at Bisha University, Saudi Arabia

Abdullah M Al-Shahrani; Elhadi Miskeen; Farah Shroff; Suaad Elnour; Rawan Algahtani; Ilham Youssry; Samar Ahmed

doi:10.2147/JMDH.S327893

Premenstrual Syndrome and Its Impact on the Quality of Life of Female Medical Students at Bisha University, Saudi Arabia

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2021 Aug 27:14:2373-2379. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S327893. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Abdullah M Al-Shahrani¹, Elhadi Miskeen², Farah Shroff³, Suaad Elnour², Rawan Algahtani⁴, Ilham Youssry⁵, Samar Ahmed⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Medicine, University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Family Practice, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
⁴ College of Medicine, University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁶ Forensic medicine and clinical toxicology department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Objective: The severity and chronicity of PMS can lead to the impairment of studies, and it can also affect relationships, activities, quality of life (QoL), and academic performance. This study aimed to determine PMS frequency and its associated factors in order to assess the quality of life (QoL) among female medical students at Bisha University, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This study was cross-sectional and included 388 female medical students in the Faculty of Medical Applied Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine at Bisha University. The participants all filled in a self-administered questionnaire. The Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PSS) was used based on the diagnostic and statistical criteria for PMS assessment. PMS was diagnosed after the presence of five or more severe premenstrual symptoms had been resolved following menstruation (adapted from American Psychiatric Association).

Data analysis: The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS 25.0. A chi-square test was used to test the associations between the study variables. A logistic regression analysis technique was used to select the group of variables. Participants were asked to provide consent to participate in the study. IRB was obtained from the University of Bisha, College of Medicine.

Results: The participants were aged 19.5 ± 4.9 years, and the prevalence of PMS was 64.9%. Most of the female students were of extroverted personality types (35%). In addition, 13.4% were obese or overweight, and 19.5% of the 50% with PMS exercised regularly (p < 0.05). Menstruation significantly influenced the related quality of life subscales (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: PMS significantly influenced daily activities related to quality of life and homework. Moreover, almost half of the female students experienced the effects of menstruation in their learning environment. Therefore, among female students, the modification of risk factors should be considered a critical intervention point.

Keywords: PMS; Saudi Arabia; University of Bisha; medical students; quality of life.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at the University of Bisha Saudi Arabia, grant number 54.