The Effect of Emotional Freedom Technique on Premenstrual Syndrome
Condition: Premenstrual Syndrome; Emotional Problem
MeSH terms: Syndrome; Premenstrual Syndrome
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the Effect of Emotional Freedom Technique on
      Premenstrual Syndrome.

      Methodology: The research will be conducted as a randomized controlled trial. The research
      will be carried out with students studying at the Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health
      Sciences, İnönü University, between September and October 2022. The sample size of the study
      was calculated as 102 people with an effect size of 0.80 and a power of 0.95. Premenstrual
      syndrome scale will be applied to all students participating in the research first and those
      who score 110 and above will be listed. Experimental and control groups will be determined by
      randomization. Personal information form, subjective experience unit scale and premenstrual
      syndrome scale will be used to collect data.

      SPSS 22.0 package program will be used in the evaluation of the data. The independent
      variable of the research is the emotional liberation technique. The dependent variable of the
      study is the mean scores of the participants from the subjective experience unit scale and
      premenstrual syndrome scale.
    

Detailed description: 
      Menstruation is an important process accompanied by physiological and psychological
      fluctuations covering a long part of a woman's life. Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is
      characterized by cyclical repetition of physical, psychological and behavioral symptoms that
      start one week before menstruation, gradually increasing in severity, and end with
      menstruation [1-3]. Presence of at least one of six affective symptoms (anger outburst,
      depression, anxiety, confusion, irritability, and social withdrawal) and one of four somatic
      symptoms (abdominal swelling, headache, breast tenderness, and swelling in the extremities)
      according to the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). It states
      that if the symptoms disappear 4 days after the onset of the disease, and if it recurs
      cyclically, it meets the diagnostic criteria of PMS [4]. In studies conducted on PMS in
      various societies, its prevalence was determined to be in the range of 10-98% [5-8]. Although
      the etiology is not known exactly, the most common view is in the direction of serotonergic
      dysregulation. It is thought that the level of serotonin negatively affects the severity and
      intensity of PMS symptoms, and also triggers or exacerbates symptoms such as anxiety,
      appetite change and restlessness with the decrease in beta endorphin levels [9,10]. According
      to the severity level in PMS treatment; lifestyle changes (regular exercise, stress
      avoidance, regular sleep, etc.), combined oral contraceptives, serotonin selective inhibitors
      and cognitive behavioral therapies can be used [3, 11]. ACOG recommends using
      non-pharmacological treatments rather than pharmacological treatments for mild symptoms with
      psychological predominance [4].

      Although it has a history of thousands of years in eastern cultures, it argues that the
      methods of energy psychology that we have encountered in the last 40 years in western
      societies and that psychological problems are related to disturbances in the energy fields of
      the body. According to energy psychology, people are physiological, emotional, mental and
      behavioral whole and in harmony. When the harmony is disturbed, psychological symptoms occur,
      and treatment is aimed by regulating the energy frequency by taking initiatives for this [12,
      13]. In this context, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a psychophysiological method that
      provides easy and fast results to manage the normal energy flow on the energy body of the
      person [14, 15]. The main purpose of EFT is; It is to transform the negative energy frequency
      of the person into a positive one by clearing the negative emotions and thoughts that the
      person has subconsciously created or carried from the past by himself or environmental
      influences [14]. In the 1980s, thought field therapy, which was applied with strokes/touches
      to human meridian points with a complex algorithmic order, was simplified by Craig and
      started to apply with a single algorithmic order, thus EFT emerged [16, 17]. EFT is applied
      with strokes/touches as a somatic stimulus applied to meridian points, which includes
      stimulating the subconscious as in cognitive behavioral therapies, accepting a negative
      situation or emotion as in exposure therapy. It is frequently used in the treatment of
      psychological symptoms in current studies because it is easy to apply in opening the
      blockages in the energy body or converting the negative frequency to positive and has a quick
      result [18]. There are studies showing that EFT has positive effects on variables such as
      anxiety [14], phobias [15], posttraumatic stress disorder [16] and depression [17]. In the
      field of women's health, the effects of EFT studies on psychological development and cortisol
      levels in pregnant women with prenatal loss [18], fear of childbirth [19], dysmenorrhea [20]
      and postpartum depression [21] The results are extremely positive. In this context, it is
      thought that the research will contribute to the literature due to the insufficiency of
      studies examining the effect of EFT application on premenstrual syndrome.
    

Intervention name(s): Emotional freedom technique
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Emotional freedom technique will be applied online with the researcher in 2 sessions, 3 days apart.
KBF, SUE, PMSS tests will be applied before the intervention, SUE will be applied before and after each session, At the end of the 2nd session, post-test data will be taken with SUE, PMSS.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Emotional Freedom Technique; Premenstruel Sendrom; Midwifery