Premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea in the career women at Bucheon City

ObjectiveWe wanted to evaluate the prevalence of dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) among the career women of Bucheon City and their knowledge of and ability to seek treatment regarding their dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome. MethodsA questionnaire survey regarding premenstrual symptoms was conducted for 289 career women.The cycle of menstruation, the regularity, the amount of menstruation and the intensity of dysmenorrheal were assessed and the symptoms were classified according to their intensity and persistence.Women's awareness of PMS and the physician consultations were also evaluated. ResultsThe approximate prevalence of PMS by the World Health Organization's International Classifi cation of Disease (ICD-10) and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology criteria was 74% and 38%, respectively.The predominant symptoms of PMS were abdominal bloating, anger, weight gain, sleep disturbance, attention deficit, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting.PMS was signifi cantly associated with the large amount of menstruation (P = 0.017) and there was no signifi cant relation with the cycle, the severity of dysmenorrhea and the use of analgesics.Most of the women (94.1%) had no knowledge regarding the terminology pertaining to PMS and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. ConclusionPMS occurs frequently and it has a significant impact on the activity of career women.However, career women have little knowledge about PMS and they only infrequently consult their physicians.Physicians should educate and inform career women about PMS and this can help to increase the quality of life of these women.