Health related quality of life among adolescents with premenstrual disorders: a cross sectional study.
BACKGROUND
Premenstrual disorders usually refer to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). This study was designed to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a sample of Iranian adolescents with premenstrual disorders.


METHODS
This was a cross sectional study. A sample of adolescent schoolgirls aged between 14 and 19 years were included in the study. Premenstrual disorders were indicated according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Health-related quality of life was measured using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). The data were analyzed in a descriptive fashion and were compared among subgroups of the study sample.


RESULTS
In all 602 female students were studied. All students reported at least one premenstrual symptom. Of these, 224 (37.2%) met the diagnostic criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Comparing the SF-36 scores between female students with and without PMDD, it was found that there were significant differences between these two groups in all measures (P < 0.001) except for physical functioning (P = 0.274). These differences were more evident on role emotional, role physical, social functioning and bodily pain.


CONCLUSIONS
The study findings affirm the fact that adolescents with premenstrual disorders suffer from poor health-related quality of life. In order to improve quality of life in female adolescents appropriate support should be provided for this population especially for those who suffer from more severe premenstrual disorders.
Depratment of Health Education, Medical School, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Mahin
M
Delara
Fazlollah
F
Ghofranipour
Parviz
P
Azadfallah
Sedigheh Sadat
SS
Tavafian
Anoushirvan
A
Kazemnejad
Ali
A
Montazeri
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D011293:Premenstrual Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D055815:Young Adult