A Correlation Study on Perceived Stress and Premenstrual Symptoms Among Adolescent Girls in Selected School at Pallakkapalayam, Namakkal (Dt)

Background: Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) is recurrent variable cluster of troublesome physical and emotional symptoms that develop 7–14 days before the onset of menstruation and subsides when menstruation occurs. Premenstrual syndrome is a psychophysiological stress induced disorder. Stress disturbs the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Changes in heart rate and blood pressure are the most important physiological response following stress. Objectives: To correlate the perceived stress and premenstrual symptoms among adolescent girls. Design: A correlational survey was adopted for the study Setting: Government Higher secondary school, Pallakkapalyam, Namakkal District. Participants: 60 adolescent girls fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected by simple random sampling technique. Methods: All participants were given a questionnaire to complete; questions were related to Baseline Proforma of adolescent girls, rating scale on the common premenstrual symptoms and perceived stress scale, participants were given 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Results: The findings revealed that, there was significant correlation between perceived stress and premenstrual symptoms (P < 0.05). There was no significant association between the premenstrual symptoms and perceived stress with their demographic variables like age, age at menarche, duration of cycle, type of flow, family history of PMS, academic performance, school absenteeism, source of information and use of home remedies. Conclusion: There was significant correlation between perceived stress and premenstrual symptoms. As the perceived stress increases the premenstrual symptoms among adolescent girls also increased.