Abstract

This study was designed to identify premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and to investigate the correlation between premenstrual syndrome and nutritional intakes. The subjects of this study were 138 college women residing in Busan Metropolitan City. The subjects were asked to complete Menstrual Discomfort Questionnaire (MDQ) regarding PMS, food intake frequencies and nutritional intake. We studied the correlation between PMS symptoms and nutritional intake. The average height and weight of anemic subjects were 161.42 +/- 3.50 cm and 51.87 +/-5.42 kg. The average BMI (body mass index, kg/m2) was 19.92 +/-2.14 and PIBW (percent ideal body weight) were 93.02 +/-9.75%. Except for phosphorous, vitamin A and vitamin C intakes, the intake levels of all other nutrients were below the Korean RDA. The average calorie intake of the subjects was 1645.65 +/-352.63 kcal (82.2% of the Korean RDA) and iron intake of the subject was 11.06 +/-4.03 mg (69.1% of the Korean RDA). The calcium and vitamin B6 intakes were 512.26 +/-183.12 mg (73.1% of the Korean RDA) and 1.12 +/-0.14 mg (80.0% of the Korean RDA), respectively. With regard to their menstrual state, 45.9% subjects responded that their menstrual cycles were 'irregular'. The frequency of PMS of the subjects was 30.2% (over 3 points) on 5 point scale (1 : no. 5 : severe). The common symptoms of PMS of the subjects were pain (2.32 +/-1.01), negative effects (2.27 +/-0.87), behavioral changes (2.26 +/-0.85), water retention (2.07 +/-0.78), arousal (1.79 +/-0.84), autonomic reactions (1.77 +/-0.87), lack of control (1.69 +/-0.75) and decreased concentration (1.68 +/-0.75). There was significant correlation between all the PMS symptoms and calcium (p < 0.01), vitamin E (p < 0.05), carbohydrate (p < 0.05). This suggests that PMS represents the clinical manifestation of nutrient deficiency states especially calcium. Therefore we concluded that calcium supplementation is likely to be of benefit in relieving PMS symptoms.

• Keywords: premenstrual syndrome; nutritional intake; calcium; vitamin E