Prevalence of Premenstrual Syndrome and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder among Mongolian College Students

Background & aims: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and to investigate the association between premenstrual symptoms and dysmenorrhea among college students in Mongolia. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to examine 593 women attending the School of Nursing at the Mongolian National University of Medical Science. A final sample of 572 questionnaires was used for data analysis. In addition to collecting demographic characteristics, we used the Premenstrual Symptoms Questionnaire (PSQ) to measure the degree of severity of premenstrual symptoms. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test, and Cochran-Armitage trend test. Results: The findings showed that the prevalence of moderate to severe PMS and PMDD among Mongolian college students was 23.8％ and 4.7％, respectively. The most frequent symptoms were “fatigue or lack of energy” (86.7％), “anger or irritability” (80.9％), “tearfulness” (76.2％), “difficulty concentrating” (75.3％), and “anxiety or tension” (73.4％). A statistically significant association was found between dysmenorrhea and the severity of PMS/PMDD. Conclusion: The prevalence rate of PMS and premenstrual symptoms among Mongolian female college students was comparably higher than in other countries, while the prevalence of PMDD was comparable among both Western and Asian participants.