The Presence of Premenstrual Syndrome and Its Relationship with Nutritional Status in Women with Different Ages

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to examine the effect of social environment that changes by age on the nutrition status of women and the presence and severity of premenstrual syndrome. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted with 250 university students lived in dormitory and 200 high school students lived with their family. PMS was diagnosed by PMS Scale-2006 which was applied twice in consecutive 2 months. Sociodemographic characteristics and 24-dietary intake was recorded; anthropometrical measurements were taken. Results: In this study, the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome was obtained as 59.0% in high school students and 63.6% in university students (p<0.05). The mean age of individuals with and without premenstrual syndrome was found similar. The significant difference in the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome between the two groups was was thought to be linked to social environmental factors that change by age and influence the dietary intake. As expected, dietary energy intake from fat, protein, saturated fats and cholesterol were higher in the university student group having high PMS prevalence. Conclusion: It is important to encourage women about gaining healthy and appropriate nutritional habits in terms of both alleviating symptom severity and prevention of PMS.