Effects of an Eight-week Elastic Training and Foeniculum Vulgare Consumption on Premenstrual Syndrome in Adolescent Girls: a Randomised Clinical Trial

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is one of the most prevalent adverse physical, behavioral, and psychological changes in women during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. It reduces fertility and quality of social life. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effects of an eight-week elastic training and Foeniculum Vulgare consumption on PMS in adolescent girls. In this experimental study, we selected 40 inactive subjects diagnosed with PMS in Shiraz, Iran in October 2020. They were randomly divided into four groups: elastic training, fennel, elastic training and fennel, and control. Elastic training was performed three sessions (45 minutes) per week for eight weeks. Fennel was consumed as oral drops of phenylene 2% daily, 30 drops every 12 hours for two months. The subjects were assessed using a premenstrual symptom screening questionnaire in pre- and post-test phases. In order to analyze the data, we utilized analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), paired t-test, and Tukey’s post hoc tests. The results showed that after elastic training and fennel consumption, mood (8.00±1.25 vs 16.50±2.32) and physical (6.17±1.08 vs 15.50±1.92) symptoms of PMS reduced compared to those in the control group (P <0.05). The combined use of elastic training and fennel consumption had the greatest effect on physical (3.14±0.72 vs 15.50±1.92, p <0.001) and behavioral (5.23±1.53 vs 16.50±2.32, P <0.001) symptoms reduction in adolescent girls. It could be recommended to use elastic training along with fennel consumption in order to reduce the physical and mood symptoms of adolescent girls with PMS.