Associations with physical activity, sedentary behavior, and premenstrual syndrome among Chinese female college students

Abstract

Purpose Premenstrual syndrome refers to a set of distressing symptoms experienced before the menstrual flow, which can affect female students’ behavior, cognitive abilities, mental health status, and academic performance. Identifying modifiable risk factors is essential to reduce the prevalence college students’ premenstrual syndrome. We examined associations between premenstrual syndrome and physical activity and sedentary behavior in Chinese female college students. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 315 female college students volunteered to participate at a university in Shanghai, China. We measured physical activity and sedentary behavior using the ActiGraph GT3X-BT and assessed premenstrual syndrome using the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 24.0 software, and the primary analysis methods included Kruskal-Wallis test and logistic regression analysis. Results Among the 221 female college students who met the inclusion criteria, 148 (67.0%) had PMS while 73 (33.3%) did not. After controlling for confounding variables, moderate physical activity and moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity were significantly associated with premenstrual syndrome. There was no correlation between light-intensity physical activity, sedentary behavior, and premenstrual syndrome in the study. Conclusion Premenstrual syndrome is prevalent among Chinese female college students. Moderate physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can be effective in reducing PMS symptoms.

Association between physical activity and risk of premenstrual syndrome among female college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Based on title and abstract screening, 123 records were excluded. By further full-text screening, 5 eligible publications [ 12 , 17 , 18 , 24 , 25 ] were included in the meta-analysis. The literature search process and results are shown in Fig.…”

“…Multiple studies investigating the association between physical activity and premenstrual syndrome among female college students have reported inconsistent findings. For instance, moderate or high physical activity is associated with milder symptoms of premenstrual syndrome [ 12 , 17 , 18 ]. However, Sahin et al suggested that physical activity was not sufficient to yield beneficial effects on premenstrual syndrome [ 19 ].…”

Association between dietary patterns and premenstrual disorders: a cross-sectional analysis of 1382 college students in China

“…3,4 Third, although our study has adjusted for several known confounders, there remains the potential for residual confounding due to uncollected factors ( e.g. , physical activities) 68,69 and possible misclassification of confounders, such as the use of self-reported weight and height for BMI calculation. 70 Fourth, the participation rate was fairly good in the School of Medicine, while the lower rate in other schools is due to the ongoing data collection.…”

Síndrome pré-menstrual em estudantes de ciências da saúde: um estudo exploratório transversal

“…Para a coleta das informações, o formulário virtual foi divido em seções e abrangeu informações sobre aspectos sociodemográficos, hábitos culturais e antecedentes ginecológicos. Além disso, avaliou-se o diagnóstico, os principais sintomas e o impacto da SPM no desempenho acadêmico por meio da escala internacional The Premenstrual Syndrome Screening Tool (PSST), a partir de sua versão validada para o Brasil (Câmara et al, 2016;Śliwerski, Koszałkowska, 2021;Shi et al, 2023).…”