Premenstrual Syndrome and Its Influencing Factors Such as Physical Activity, Perceived Stress and Mental Status
Condition: Premenstrual Syndrome
MeSH terms: Syndrome; Premenstrual Syndrome
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Our research aimed to investigate how a sedentary lifestyle, body mass index, depression, and
      stress affect the severity of PMS symptoms and how the listed factors influence each other.
    

Detailed description: 
      The measuring instrument used was compiled from standard and self-made questionnaires.

      The data collection spanned 6 months on the Google Forms platform. The sampling procedure
      used was convenience sampling. 500 people were invited to fill out the questionnaire, which
      was sent to women's health-themed groups on social media, and it was also sent to
      universities in Hungary.

      At the same time as the cross-sectional research, the investigators formed two groups
      concerning the results of the Premenstrual Assessment Form questionnaire: a case group and a
      control group. The obtained results were examined for both the experimental and control
      groups.

      The self-edited part of the examining tool consisted of general questions (socio-demographic,
      women's and public health, anthropometric) and standardized questionnaires integrated into
      the online questionnaire.

      The investigators assessed the age of the subjects and calculated their body mass index (BMI)
      by assessing the participants weight and height.

      During the questionnaire, The investigators covered the lifestyle of the subjects: smoking,
      coffee, alcohol, and drug consumption habits. The investigators asked about the
      characteristics of the menstrual cycle, such as the presence of pain and cramps or the
      regularity of the cycle (a cycle between 21-35 days was considered regular). The
      investigators have also assessed the presence of pregnancy and breastfeeding.

      In general questions about physical activity, the investigators collected data on how often
      subjects engage in physical activity.

      The General Health Questionnaire-12

      To assess the presence of depression, the investigators used Goldberg's 12-item General
      Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The original questionnaire consisted of 60 questions, and
      several versions have proven useful over time. The questionnaire assesses mental health
      through 4 subscales: somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunctions, and severe
      depression. The participants could answer the 12 questions on a scale from 0 to 3. Two
      scoring systems can be used when evaluating the GHQ-12: the so-called bimodal scoring
      (0-0-1-1) and the other is Likert scoring (0-1-2-3). The cut-off point limit for the bimodal
      scoring method is 2/3, and the maximum score that can be obtained is 12; for the Likert
      scale, it is 8/9, and the top score is 36.

      The Perceived Stress Scale

      The investigators used the Hungarian-language, validated version of the Perceived Stress
      Scale (PSS) to assess perceived stress. The questionnaire gives the investigators feedback on
      the stress level experienced during the past month. The questionnaire consists of 10
      questions, which respondents can answer on a 5-point scale from 0-4, so the lowest possible
      score is 0, and the highest is 40. During the evaluation, based on the total scores, the
      respondents can be divided into 3 categories: 0-13 points = low level of perceived stress;
      14-26 points = moderate perceived stress; 27-40 points = high level of perceived stress.

      The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form

      The investigators used the shortened version of the International Physical Activity
      Questionnaire (IPAQ-SF) to assess physical activity, validated in Hungarian. The
      questionnaire assesses the number of days and hours the subjects spend in heavy, moderate, or
      light physical work and examines the time all activities spent walking, lying down, and
      sitting for a period of one week.

      The Premenstrual Assessment Form - Short Form

      The investigators used the shortened version of the Premenstrual Assessment Form (PAF-SF),
      containing 10 questions translated into Hungarian to assess premenstrual symptoms. The
      questionnaire consists of 3 subscales; the first is called "Affect," which asks about
      increased irritability and bad mood, sad mood, stress, and overwork. The second subscale asks
      the participant about "Water retention," such as questions about edema and limb swelling,
      bloating, and weight gain. The third and last subscale assesses the existence of "Pain." It
      asks about lower abdominal cramps, back pain, joint pain, and pain caused by tense breasts.
      It is important to emphasize that all questions ask about the 7-14 days before menstruation
      and that the respondents can answer on a scale from one to six, the values of which are as
      follows: 1=uncharacteristic or no change; 2=minimal change; 3=slight change; 4=moderate
      change; 5=severe change; 6=very severe change. The total score can be calculated based on the
      scores given to these questions. The minimum number of points that can be obtained is 10, and
      the maximum number that can be obtained is 60. According to several international literature,
      the diagnostic point limit is 27, so this was used to evaluate the obtained data.

      After evaluating the results of the PAF questionnaire, the investigators created a control
      and a case group to examine individual factors depending on the symptoms of PMS.

      Among the applied statistical calculations, the minimum, maximum, mean (± standard
      deviation), and median (interquartile range) functions were used to characterize the
      descriptive statistics. During the normality test, the investigators used the
      Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, based on the results of which Spearman correlation analysis,
      independent sample T-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Pearson chi-square test were performed to
      test the hypotheses.

      The statistical data analysis software used in the study included Microsoft Excel 2016 and
      IBM SPSS version 28.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).

      The level of significance was defined as p<0.05.
    

Observational model: Other
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        women between the ages of 18-45 who reported symptoms of PMS during the period of
        parameterization of the target group
      
Keywords: physical activity; perceived stress; mental health