June 2024 · Volume 13 · Issue 6 Page 1531 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Singh A et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2024 Jun;13(6):1531-1535 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Original Research Article Premenstrual syndrome among budding medical professionals at medical college in a metro city: a cross sectional study Anuradha Singh 1 , Triveni G. S. 1 *, Kajal Sharma 1 , Brijesh Saran 2 INTRODUCTION Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a global problem affecting millions of young women of child bearing age. It occurs during the luteal phase and resolves shortly after menstruation. It affects about 75% of women in reproductive age and about 3 to 8% suffer from extremely severe forms of symptoms. 1 This entity was first described in 1931 by Frank as “premenstrual tension”. The term “PMS” was first used by Greene and Dalton in 1953 to describe its various symptomatology. 2 It’s a constellation of various physical and psychological symptoms causing significant distress, interfering with work, social activities and lowering the quality of life. It is one of the major public health problems in young girls affecting their physical and mental health. 3 A smaller subset meet criteria for PMS and less than 10% of them are diagnosed as having premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). 4 Various social and psychological causes have been proposed as the cause of this syndrome. The abnormal serotonin function, presence of progesterone, smoking, alcohol intake, altered trans-capillary fluid balance, high consumption of beef, increased caffeine intake may have role in PMS. 5 As per studies at molecular level, decreased estrogen stimulates hypothalamus to release norepinephrine which further triggers a decline in levels of DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20241439 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, LHMC, New Delhi, Delhi, India 2 Department of Psychiatry, Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India Received: 19 April 2024 Revised: 11 May 2024 Accepted: 13 May 2024 *Correspondence: Dr. Triveni G. S., E-mail: drtriveni.gs@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a group of menstrual disorder constituting various physical, emotional and behavioral symptoms occurring in the luteal phase usually a week before menstruation. It is a very common condition affecting many young girls and severity can have a negative impact on the quality of life. Our study was done to estimate the prevalence of this condition among the medical undergraduate students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Lady Hardinge medical college, New Delhi, India among medical undergraduates after ethical clearance. A convenient sample size of 228 was taken. The participants were selected by random sampling technique and informed consent was obtained. The data was collected as per PMSS scale and analyzed by frequencies and percentages using SPSS version 21. Results: The prevalence of PMS among our enrolled participants was 100%. Majority about 61% belonged to age group of 21-25 years. About 40.8% of students had mild symptoms, 35.1% moderate, 18.0% severe and 6.1% very severe form of PMS. However, no significant difference was found in the severity between 2 age groups. Conclusions: Our study highlights 100% prevalence of PMS with varied severity of presentation. The very high prevalence of PMS among medical undergraduates calls for an urgent need to priorities the health care by creating awareness and provide necessary medical, social and psychological support to our budding professionals. Keywords: PMS, Medical undergraduates, Menstrual disorder, Premenstrual symptoms