ObjectiveTo explore the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome(PMS), and its correlation with personality traits and menstrual attitudes among female college students.

MethodsEight hundred and twenty female college students were selected by cluster sampling, and investigated using premenstrual syndrome scale(PMSS), Eysenck personality questionnaire-revised scale for Chinese(EPQ-RSC) (including extroversion, neuroticism, and psychosis subscale) and menstrual attitude questionnaire(MAQ).

ResultsAmong 803 female college students, 379 cases with PMS were identified, the detection rate of PMS was 47.2%, which included the mild in 209 cases(55.15%), moderate in 153 cases(40.37%) and severe in 17 cases(4.48%).The PMS symptoms mainly included the inattention(62.14%), agitation(61.15%), drowsiness(58.78%) and anxiety(55.04%).The scores of psychosis and neuroticism scale in PMS college students were higher than those in non-PMS students(P < 0.01 and P < 0.05), the score of extroversion scale in PMS college students was significantly lower than that in non-PMS students(P < 0.01), and the difference of the MAQ score between PMS and non-PMS college students was not statistically significant(P>0.05).The correlation analysis results showed that the scores of psychosis, neuroticism and MAQ were positively correlated with PMSS score(P < 0.01), the score of extroversion scale was negatively correlated with PMSS score(P < 0.01), and the score of mental quality scale was negatively correlated with MAQ score(P < 0.01).

ConclusionsThe PMS is amore common health problem, and is correlated with personality traits and menstrual attitudes among female college students.