Publications

Premenstrual syndrome is used to describe physical, cognitive, affective, and behavioural symptoms that occurcyclically during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and resolve quickly at or within a few days of the onset ofmenstruation. This study determined the prevalence, knowledge, attitude and effects of premenstrual syndromeamong female medical students (18-35 years) at Kampala International University, western campus. This was aninstitution-based descriptive cross-sectional study involving female medical students. Data were edited, coded andentered into the computer and analyzed using SPSS v.20. Descriptive data was Presented inform from tables and piecharts. Out of the 100 respondents in the study, the majority (65.0%) were aged 18-24 years, 79.0% were married,45.0% had a monthly income of 100,000-200,000/= and 93.0% did not smoke. The prevalence of premenstrualsyndrome was found to be 21.0% in the study. According to the study, only 47.0% of the participants had ever heardabout premenstrual syndrome, 28.0% reported having ever experienced it, the majority (53.0%) said premenstrualsyndrome is experienced a week after, 67.0% said all females are affected by premenstrual syndrome, 19.0% said ithas interfered with their duties, 74.0% said it’s a normal experience and majority (47.0%) said they use oralcontraceptives to treat it. The study further established that the majority (80.0%) reported that PMS/menstrualleave should be an option at university, 84.0% said PMS/menstrual leave should be an option at work place, only23.0% would talk to their parents/spouse about premenstrual syndrome, 17.0% would consult a doctor for checkupof PMS and only 31.0% thought PMS is a significant issue to be discussed. Out of those who reported to haveexperienced premenstrual syndrome (28),71.4% reported academic performance impairment of which frequent classmissing (50.0%) was the most common type of impairment and 80.0% reported to have scored less than boys due toPMS. This study concludes that PMS is a widespread issue that considerably lowers women's quality of life. Despitethe increased awareness, there is still a sizable information gap regarding when patients should visit a doctor or seektreatment for their symptoms