Relationship between the level of physical activity and premenstrual syndrome incidence

PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between the level of physical activity and the incidence of premenstrual syndrome. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was conducted on 71 apparently healthy university students (24.4 +/- 4.8 yrs; 61.5 +/- 8.7 kg; 1.63 +/- 0.06 m). The level of physical activity was determined with a questionnaire and the presence of premenstrual syndrome was verified based on daily symptoms self-reported in a diary during two consecutive menstrual cycles. 17 premenstrual symptoms are considered in the diary, which should be scored on a 5-point scale (0-4) according to their occurrence, so that a score can be calculated in each cycle. The occurrence of premenstrual syndrome was considered if three or more symptoms were reported up to six days before menstruation (premenstrual period) and were absent up to six days after menstruation (postmenstrual period). RESULTS: The Spearman correlation coefficient showed a significant and negative relationship between the level of physical activity and premenstrual syndrome score (r=-0.506; 95% CI -0.335 to -0.678; p< 0.001). When the participants were divided into a group with a positive diagnosis of premenstrual syndrome (n= 31) and a healthy group (n= 40), the Mann-Whitney test showed higher habitual physical activity in the healthy group than in the premenstrual syndrome group (7.96 +/- 1.17 and 6.63 +/- 1.20, respectively) (p< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There is a negative relationship between the level of physical activity and the incidence of premenstrual syndrome, with women with a positive diagnosis of premenstrual syndrome having a lower level of physical activity than healthy women.