A Study on Correlation between Premenstrual Syndrome and Nutrient Intake, Exercise Habit of Women

This study was designed to identify how the incidence and severity of premenstrual. syndrome (PMS) correlate with the nutrient intakes and exercise habit of women. The subjects of this study were 299 women residing in Busan metropolitan city. Each subject was asked to complete a menstrual discomfort questionnaire (MDQ) for PMS and nutrient intakes. PMS symptom scores of women in their twenties ranked in order of severity were: behavioral change (2.45), followed by pain (2.36) and water retention (2.28), negative effects (2.20), autonomic reaction (1.91), arousal (1.87), decreased concentration (1.76) and decreased control (1.74). For Women in their thirties, the symptom of pain was the most dominant (2.93) followed by autonomic reaction (2.69) and behavioral change (2.54), and for those in their forties, negative effect (3.06) was highest, followed by pain (2.97) and autonomic reaction (2.86). The overall symptoms of PMS significantly increased with age (20': 2.07 points, 30': 2.34 points, 40': 2.47 points). There was no correlation of the BMI of the subjects with the symptoms of PMS, but there was a significant negative correlation between the symptoms of PMS and exercise frequency for women in their thirties and forties. Subjects in their twenties exhibited a significant negative correlation for PMS symptoms with the intake of carbohydrate (p < 0.05), calcium (p < 0.05) and vitamin E (p < 0.05). For subjects in their thirties, PMS symptoms were negatively correlated with the intake of calcium (p < 0.05) and vitamin C (p < 0.05); and in women in their forties, calcium (p < 0.01) and carbohydrate (p < 0.05) intakes were negatively correlated with PMS symptoms. This suggests that PMS represents the clinical manifestation of a nutrient deficiency state, especially calcium. Therefore, we concluded that nutrient supplementation and exercise management are likely to be of benefit in relieving PMS symptoms.