Korean J Community Nutr.  2011 Feb;16(1):14-22. 10.5720/kjcn.2011.16.1.14.

A Study on Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), Nutrient Intake, Psychological Index according to the Obesity Degree of College Women

• Kang SN
• Park JH
• Hwang HJ

• KMID: 2263799
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2011.16.1.14

Abstract

This study was designed to compare the incidence and severity of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) between normal (N = 85) and overweight or obese (N = 28) college female students and investigated correlation between PMS, nutrient intake, hematological index and psychological index (depression, anxiety, stress). Each subject was asked a Menstrual Discomfort Questionnaire (MDQ) for PMS by 5 Likert scale. The PMS scores of women in the normal weight subjects ranked in order of severity were water retention (2.71), followed by behavioral change (2.58), negative affect (2.46), pain (2.31), autonomic reaction (2.27), decreased concentration (2.16). The symptoms of 'pain' and 'behavioral change' of overweight or obese subject were significantly higher than those of normal subject (p < 0.05). And total cholesterol concentration of overweight or obese subjects was significantly higher than in normal subject (p < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) between the symptoms of 'negative effect' and BMI. And the triglyceride concentration was positively related with 'water retention (p < 0.01)'. The symptoms of 'decreased concentration' were negatively correlated with calcium (p < 0.01) and vitamin B6 intake (p < 0.05). The depression score were positively related with symptoms of 'behavioral change (p < 0.05)', 'negative affect' (p < 0.01), and the anxiety score was positively correlated with 'behavioral change (p < 0.05)' and 'decreased concentration (p < 0.05)'. The stress score was positively correlated with 'decreased concentration (p < 0.01)', 'behavioral change (p < 0.05)' and 'negative affect (p < 0.05)'. This suggests that PMS represents the clinical manifestation of a calcium, vitamin B6 deficiency and psychological disorder. Therefore we concluded that nutrient supplementation, depression and stress management may help to relieve PMS symptoms.

Keyword

Premenstrual syndrome; BMI; nutrient intake; hematological index; psychological index

MeSH Terms

Anxiety
Calcium
Cholesterol
Depression
Female
Humans
Incidence
Obesity
Overweight
Premenstrual Syndrome
Surveys and Questionnaires
Retention (Psychology)
Vitamin B 6
Vitamin B 6 Deficiency
Water
Calcium
Cholesterol
Vitamin B 6
Water

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