A comparison of prevalence of premenstrual syndrome symptoms between athlete and non-athlete female students

The purpose of this study was to compare prevalence of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms between athlete and non-athlete female students of the Islamic Azad University of Ilam.

One hundred female athletes (Means±SD; Age, 23.6±4.1 years; height, 162.9±5.4 cm; weight, 60.7±9.0 kg; previous history of physical activity, 3.3±2.8 years) and 100 non-athletes (Means±SD; Age, 22.3±2.2 years; height, 162.2±5.6 cm; weight, 59.4±8.6 kg) were selected among female students that had regular menstrual cycle and did not take any medicine. Data were collected using PMS questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using t-test.

Results of this study showed that somatic symptoms of female athletes (10.2±5.8) were significantly (t=-1.79, P=0.024) lower than non-athletes (12.7±7.7). However, no significant difference between psychological symptoms of athlete (11.2±8.9) and non-athletes (14.7±9.6) was found. In addition, in terms of PMS no significant difference (t=-2.04, P= 0.091) between athletes (21.5±13.1) and non-athletes (27.8±15.9) was detected. In total, 93.5% of subjects (n=187) had PMS and that there was no significant difference (t= -2.16, P= 0.175) between athletes (91%) and non-athletes 96%) students.

Based on the results of the present study it could be suggested that females with PMS might consider regular physical activity in addition to the other affecting factors.