Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome in nursing students and the methods used by students the cope with the symptoms.

Methods: The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional study consisted of 350 female students studying at the nursing faculty of a private university. 322 (92%) students, who were voluntary to participate in the study, represented the sample of the study. Personal information form and premenstrual syndrome scale were used as data collection tools.

Results: In our study, it was found that while 74% of the participants had at least moderate level of premenstrual syndrome symptoms (PMSS≥114), 33.5% had premenstrual syndrome symptoms at a severe level (PMSS≥164). The mean PMSS score of the participants was 142.36±40.74, the mean score for the depressive affect subscale was 24.29±7.94 and the mean score for the fatigue subscale was 21.33±6.77.

Conclusion: It was observed that the majority of the students experienced at least moderate premenstrual syndrome and used more non-pharmacological methods to cope with the symptoms. The rates of using different coping methods and getting information from health professionals in coping with premenstrual syndrome symptoms were found to be low.