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

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 childbearing 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. Conflict of Interest: None declared This article has been peer reviewed. Article Submitted on: 4 February 2014 Article Accepted on: 19 May 2014 Funding Sources: None declared Correspondence to: Dr Ramesh Kumar Address: Department of Health System and Policy, Health Services Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan Email: [email protected] Cite this article: Amjad A, Kumar R, Mazher SB. Socio-demographic factors and premenstrual syndrome among women attending a teaching hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan. J Pioneer Med Sci 2014; 4(4):159-162 may involve positive changes in the social role of the Pakistani women, it may also lead to a conflict in attitudes towards menstruation expressed by negativity and the development of menstrual disorders [6]. However, the extent and severity of premenstrual syndromes in Pakistani young women is unknown. This lack of data may be because only a minority of women with menstrual problems may sought health care as menstruation is considered a highly personal and secretive topic in the Pakistani culture. Therefore, our aim was 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. INTRODUCTION Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) consists of physical, cognitive, affective or behavioral symptoms that occur cyclically during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and resolve quickly at or within a few days of the onset of menstruation [1]. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) published the ten criteria for the diagnosis of PMS [4]. Other criteria used to diagnose PMS are based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD10) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) [5]. In the Pakistani society, menstruation represents the girl’s entrance to womanhood and her family may impose strict rules on her social behavior. While menstruation